Bade: Married with Children
by They Call Me Nugget
Summary: The Hollywood Arts gang have graduated and now have families of their own! This story mostly focuses on Beck and Jade's family, but Cat, Robbie, Tori, André, and Trina's families play a big role in it too! Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious. Please review!
1. The Beginning: Bade

"I can't do it, Beck. I can't," Jade cries. At 16-years-old, she is currently in a hospital, delivering her first child. Beck gently kisses his girlfriend on the cheek. He smiles at her. "Listen to me, Jade. You can do this. You're almost there. Come on," he tells Jade. Jade takes a few deep breaths and pushes again. She screams in pain, with tears running down her cheeks. She looks at Beck. "Beck?" she says. Beck looks into Jade's crystal blue eyes. "Yes, babe?" he replies. "I hate you right now," Jade says. Beck chuckles and kisses her on the forehead. Jade squeezes Beck's hand and pushes again. She stops for a few seconds, before pushing again. "The baby's crowning!" the doctor announces. Jade pushes again and after a couple of pushes, the doctor announces that the baby's head is out. "You just need to deliver the shoulders. After you do that, the rest of the baby should slide right out," the doctor says. Jade takes a moment to breathe, before pushing and delivering one of the baby's shoulders. She bears down and gives on final push with all of her might. The baby's other should emerges and the rest if its body quickly slips out.

Beck and Jade expect to hear a cry, but their baby was silent. Jade begins to panic. She looks at Beck, with tears filling her eyes. "The baby's not crying. Why isn't it crying? It should be crying," she cries frantically. The doctors rub the newborn baby gently and finally the room is filled with a high pitched wail. Jade sighs in relief and relaxes.

The doctor turns around holding the baby in his arms. She walks towards Beck and Jade with a big smile on his face. "Beck and Jade, congratulations! You have a beautiful baby boy!" she says happily. She carefully place the baby in Jade's outstretched arms. Happy tears run down Jade face. She and Beck look deeply into each other's eyes. "We have a baby boy," she whispers breathlessly. Neither of them knew the baby's gender, because they wanted to be surprised. Beck has an enormous smile on his face. "You did it, Jade! I'm so proud of you!" he says. He kisses Jade on the lips and leans closer to see his new son. The baby looks just like Beck. He had Beck's tanned skin, dark and luscious hair, and warm brown eyes. "Can you tell everyone that they can come in now?" Jade asks. Beck nods. "Sure thing." He exits the room and heads to the waiting room.

Tori, André, Cat, and Robbie had been waiting in the waiting room. They all came to the hospital to support Beck and Jade. Tori and André are playing on their phones, while Cat chatters about babies to Robbie. When they see Beck, everyone stands. "Guys, come with me," Beck says. He's still grinning proudly. He takes the group to Jade's hospital room. He opens the door and the group files into the room. Jade smiles at everyone. Cat rushes to her best friend's bedside. She squeal excitedly. "Oh my god! He is sooooooooo cute!" she loudly exclaims, before Beck politely asks her to lower her voice. The other also come closer to take a look at the tiny baby. They congratulate the couple in their new bundle of joy.

Beck, do you want to hold him?" Jade asks. Beck nods excitedly. "Of course!" Jade gingerly places the baby in her boyfriend's arms. Beck cradles his son gently and smiles. "Hey there, Buddy. I'm your daddy," he says softly. "What are you guys gonna name him?" André asks. Beck and Jade exchange glances. "Nolan was the name that we chose for a boy, so his name is Nolan. He hadn't decide on any middle names yet," Jade responds. She listed possible middle names and the groups discussed them. They tested the names out loud to see how they sounded with Beck and Jade's last names. Beck handed Nolan back go Jade, so he could write down the names that sounded good or good suggestions. Eventually, they decided to dedicate Nolan's middle name to Beck. Once the baby's name is decided, Jade looks down at Nolan, smiling. "Welcome to the world, Nolan Beck Oliver-West!" she whispers.

**_Nolan Beck Oliver-West_**

**_7 lbs. 8 oz._**

**_19.6 inches._**

**_Born at 2:38 pm on March 9th._**

* * *

"God dammit, Beck! How could I let myself get into this situation _AGAIN!?_" Jade screams. She grips her boyfriend's hand tightly. "It's not just your fault. We both played a part in this," Beck says. Jade winces in pain. She feels like a complete idiot. Only a year ago, she was in the same situation, giving birth to her first child, Nolan. For the last 12 hours, Jade has been in labour, waiting until she's dilated to 10 centimetres. Luckily, she asked for an epidural this time.

The doctor that delivered Nolan, Dr. Montgomery, enters the room. She walks to Jade and asks how she's doing. "Hello, Jade! How are you holding up?" she says. Jade groans. "Please tell that I'm at 10 centimetres! I swear if I'm still only at nine, I'm gonna take a scalpel and cut the damn kid out myself!" Jade growls through gritted teeth. Dr. Montgomery smiles at the irritated teenager. "Well, let's see if you're at 10 centimetres before we do anything with a a scalpel," she says with a small chuckle. Jade exhales loudly. Dr. Montgomery puts on a pair of gloves and examines Jade. "Good news, Jade! You can push now," she says. Jade smiles. "Finally!" she exclaims. Beck helps his girlfriend put her feet into the stirrups and holds her hand. "On the count of three, you going to push. Okay?" Dr. Montgomery instructs. Jade nods. "Ready...1...2...3! Push!" Jade squeezes Beck's hand and pushes. She rests than pushes again.

Unlike Nolan's delivery, this one is shorter and a lot less strenuous. After about 15 minutes of pushing, a shrill cry is heard. Dr. Montgomery whisks the crying baby boy away and cleans him up. Jade tries to lean forward and see her son. A nurse helps Jade clean herself up, then Dr. Montgomery brings the still crying baby back to Beck and Jade. She places the infant in Jade's arms. Jade smiles at her baby. The baby stops crying as soon as he's placed in his mother's arms. "Congratulations! You have another beautiful baby boy," Dr. Montgomery says happily. She says goodbye and leaves the room, so Beck and Jade can have some privacy.

"He's perfect," Beck says. Jade smiles and looks at Beck. "Do you want to hold him?" she asks. Beck nods and she hands the baby to his father. He gently rocks the newborn and talks softly to him. Jade watches Beck holding their son. The baby is a perfect mixture of Beck and Jade. He has Beck's brown eyes and Jade's nose. He has thick, fluffy dark hair like Beck and he has Jade's eyebrows. His complexion is more like his father's, but his skin isn't quite as dark as Beck's. Suddenly, there is a knock on the door. "Can we come in?" a familiar, chipper voice asks. "Come in!" Beck says. Cat and the rest of the gang enter the room.

Everyone crowds around Beck and Jade. Tori, who's holding 1-year-old Nolan, goes to Jade. "Look, Nolan! It's mommy," she says. Nolan smiles and points to Jade. "Mama!" he exclaims happily. Tori sets him down on the bed next to Jade. "Hey, Buddy," Jade says softly. Nolan giggles and points to Beck. "Be be!" he says. Jade smiles and nods. "That's your little brother," she tells him. Beck bends down so Nolan can see the baby. "Look, Nolan. It's your new baby brother," he says. Nolan smiles. "Be be bubba!" he says. "So, what his name?" Cat asks excitedly. "Well, we decided to name him Dylan Parker Oliver-West," Jade replies. "Dywan!" Nolan exclaims. Everyone smiles. "I wuv be be bubba Dywan!" Nolan says. He sweetly kisses his little brother on the cheek.

**_Dylan Parker Oliver-West_**

**_8 lbs._**

**_20 inches._**

**_Born at 4:47 pm on May 25th._**

* * *

Beck and Jade are in Brooklyn, New York. They were asked to make an appearance at a movie premiere. Ever since Dylan's birth, their acting careers have really taken off. Beck is part of a multimillion dollar movie franchise, while Jade has successfully released her debut album. Nolan and Dylan are at Beck's parents' house, spending the night, since Beck and Jade are in New York.

Last night, the couple attended the movie premiere. They spent the day going sightseeing. Now, they are both exhausted and sleeping in their hotel room. At around 10 o'clock pm, Jade awakes to the feeling of liquid trickling down her leg. She immediately starts to panic, knowing that her water had just broken. "Beck!" she exclaims, shaking her sleeping husband. Beck rolls over and faces Jade. "What, babe?" he mumbles, still half asleep. "Beck, get up! My water broke!" Jade whimpers, on the verge of tears. Beck is suddenly wide awake. He jumps out of bed and rushes to Jade's side. "It's too early, Beck!" Jade cries, holding her stomach. Beck kisses Jade's forehead. "You're going to be okay. The baby is going to be fine. Let's just get to a hospital," he says. He holds his hand out and Jade tries to stand, but a searing pain in her abdomen inhibits her ability to move. She tries again but the pain is too intense. "I can't move," she winces. Beck quickly calls the valet, then scoops Jade up gently in his arms and rushes out the door.

Beck places Jade in the front seat and gets into the driver's seat. He speeds to the nearest hospital. He quickly parks and carries Jade into the emergency room. "Hi, my name is Beck Oliver! My wife is 36 weeks pregnant. Her water broke like 10 minutes ago," he says breathlessly. The nurse stares at him for a few moments and begins fanning herself. "Y-Y-You're Beck Oliver! A-A-And that's Jade West!" she exclaims, before promptly fainting. Beck and Jade stare at her for a second. "Is there someone _else_ that can help us!?" Beck shouts. A team of doctors rush over to Beck and Jade with a gurney. Beck gently places Jade on the gurney and the doctors bring her to a room.

Jade is put in a hospital bed and hooked up to different machines and IVs. "Jade, my name is Dr. Linden. We've given you some medicine that should slow your labour down...if we're lucky, maybe it will even stop. We're going to give your baby a shot of steroids, to help develop her lungs. We're going to keep you here overnight for observation. If you need anything, don't be afraid to get on of the nurses," Dr. Linden says. Jade nods slowly. "Thank you, doctor," Beck says, shaking the doctor's hand. Dr. Linden politely smiles and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

Beck and Jade stay silent for a few minutes, before Jade breaks the silence. "Beck, I'm so sorry," she whispers. Beck holds Jade's hand and kisses it. "Why are you sorry?" he asks. Jade sighs sadly. "I shouldn't have gone to the premiere last night. I should've just stayed home with the boys," she says. Beck kisses her on the cheek. "This is not your fault. Jade, Dr. Montgomery said that it was okay for you to go," he tells his wife. Jade looks away from Beck, tears stinging her eyes. "I knew that something wasn't right, but I went anyway. I'm so stupid. Beck, I'm sorry. I put out baby in danger," she says, breaking down and crying. Beck gently put his hands on Jade's shoulders and looked at her. "Look at me," he says. Jade avoids his eye contact for a while, but eventually she looks into his deep brown eyes. Beck wearily smiles at his wife. "This is not your fault," he says. Jade breaks eye contact and looks away again. "I should've trusted my gut," she whispers to herself. More tears roll down her cheeks. Beck cups her face in his cups.

"Jadelyn August West, listen to me. This is not your fault. It isn't anyone's fault. Sometimes things just happen," he says. Jade cringes at the sound of her full name. "Beck, you know how much I hate when you say my full name," she says. Beck kisses her on the lips. "I only use when I'm being serious. And I'm serious, Jade. This is not your fault," he says. Jade stays silent. "Repeat after me. This is not my fault," Beck instructs. Jade doesn't say anything. "Jade..." Beck says sternly. Jade sighs and finally repeats Beck. "This is not my fault," she says in a barely audible whisper. Beck kisses Jade again and hugs her gently.

A small smile spreads across Jade's face. "By the way, _Beckett Ezra Oliver_, do not say my full name out loud, no matter how serious you are," she commands playfully. Beck smirks. "Sorry, _Jadelyn August West_," he says, with a chuckle. Jade crosses her arms, then a pillow of the hospital bed and hurls it at Beck's head. Beck manages to catch the pillow, before it hits him in the face. "Did you forget that I have cat-like reflexes? I'm like a tiger-ninja, _Jadelyn August West,_" he jokes. Jade hurls another pillow at him. This time, the pillow hit Beck in the upper chest. She giggles. "I'm sorry. What was that, _Beckett Ezra Oliver?_ You were talking about your cat-like reflexes...I believe that you refered to yourself as a tiger-ninja?" she says. Beck picks the pillow that just hit him and places it back on the bed. "Babe, you know that I don't get bothered when you say my full name," he says. Jade rolls her eyes. "Whatever," she says. She and Beck talk for a while, before she falls asleep.

Beck watches Jade sleep, until she wakes up when one of her monitors starts beeping wildly. Jade looks at Beck, panicked. "Beck, something's happening. What's happening!?" she screams. Beck shoots out of his chair and runs to Jade's bedside. Jade grips his hand tightly, holding back tears. "I'll get the doctor!" Beck exclaims, bounding towards the door. As he is about to open the door, Dr. Linden and a few other nurses enter the room. "Oh thank god! You're here!" Beck exclaims. Dr. Linden and the nurses rush to Jade and look at the beeping monitor. "Jade, it looks like your baby is in distress. She needs to come out now," Dr. Linden tells Jade. Jade shakes her head, her eyes wide with fear. "No! I can't have her now! It's too early! Please! You have to do something!" Jade cries. Dr. Linden gives Jade a sympathetic look and makes direct eye contact. "Listen to me, Jade. We've done everything that we can do. Your baby needs to be delivered right now, okay?" she says kindly, but firmly. Jade meekly nods. "Prep for a premature delivery!" Dr. Linden orders. The nurses gather the needed medical supplies and one nurse drapes a sheet over Jade that covers her from the waist down.

Beck holds Jade's hand and whispers words of encouragement into her ears. Jade looks at him worriedly. "Our little girl is going to be perfect, Jade. Don't worry," Beck says reassuringly. He kisses Jade on the lips. "Okay, Jade! I'm going to need you to push now!" Dr. Linden says. Jade leans forward slightly and pushes. She yelps in pain, before pushing again.

Suddenly, Dr. Linden becomes concerned and she tells Jade to stop pushing. "What going on!? What's happening!?" Jade cries frantically. "It looks like your baby is in the footling breech position-" Dr Linden begins, before being cut of by Beck. "What does that mean!?" Beck questions, interrupting the doctor. Used to anxious mothers and family members interrupting her, Dr. Linden remains poised and professional. "The baby is positioned feet first, instead of head first. Normally babies come out head first. This is a very dangerous and risky situation and I need to perform an ECV," she says. Jade leans forward to look at the doctor. "What the fuck is that!?" she screams. "ECV stands for external cephalic version. I'm going to apply pressure to your abdomen and try to manually rotate your baby into the head-down position. Time is of the essence. I need to start now, okay?" Dr. Linden says. Jade nods and lays back.

Dr. Linden places a hand on Jade's abdomen and applies pressure, while she uses the other hand to turn the baby. Never before had Jade felt this much pain. She lets out a bloodcurdling scream as tears stream down her face. She has a death grip on Beck's hand. Dr. Linden gently tries to turn the baby more, eliciting a more screams and tears from Jade. After about a minute of pure torture and hell, the baby is finally in the proper position and the delivery can continue.

"Okay, Jade! The baby has been successfully turned. Now push!" Dr. Linden orders. Jade pushes with all her might, screaming like there's no tomorrow. After a few pushes, a quiet, but strong cry fills the room. Jade slumps back, tired and relieved. The nurses take the baby away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). As Jade watches her baby being taken away, she panics again. "Where are they taking her!?" she cries. "They're taking her to NICU. They're going to clean her up and do some tests to make sure that there isn't anything wrong with her," Dr. Linden responds as she cleans up. She throws the soiled drapes into the waste bin and removed her gloves. Jade's chest rises and falls rapidly, her vision starts to blur, and the room starts to spin. The colour begins draining from her face and her porcelain skin almost starts to look translucent. Beck notice this and begins to worry. "Dr. Linden! There's something wrong with Jade!" Beck exclaims anxiously. Dr. Linden rushes back and looks at Jade. "Jade? Jade, how are you feeling?" she asks. Jade tries to focus on Dr. Linden, but the spinning room and her blurred vision makes it nearly impossible. "I feel kindaaaaaaaaa-" she starts to slur. Before she can finish, her eyes roll back and her head rolls to the side as she passes out. A gush of blood runs down her legs and makes a puddle on the floor. "She's hemorrhaging!" Dr. Linden exclaims. She grabs an oxygen mask and slips it over Jade's nose and mouth. "My patient is having a postpartum hemorrhage! Get her to the OR! Stat!" she yells out the door. A group of nurses wheel Jade's bed to the surgery wing. They don't let Beck past a certain point, so he stops and watches them take away his wife, praying that she'll be okay.

"I need three bags of O neg. blood!" a surgeon orders. A scrub nurse hooks Jade up to a bag of O negative blood. An anesthesiologist puts Jade under anesthesia, before the surgeon gets to work. The surgeon, Dr. Handle makes an incision on Jade's abdomen. He finds the source of the bleeding and quickly stops it. As he finishes up, he notices something. "There's another baby in here!" he shouts. A scrub nurse grabs a receiving blanket and Dr. Handle takes the baby out. He gently places the baby in the nurse's receiving blanket. The nurse quickly gives the baby oxygen and begins to examine it. "It's a girl!" she announces. She tries to stimulate the baby girl, so she'll cry. After many unsuccessful attempts, the nurse finally gets the baby to cry. Dr. Handle finishes up Jade's surgery. Jade is taking to a hospital room to recover and the baby girl is taken to the NICU.

A few hours later, Jade opens her eyes and sees Beck sitting at her bedside with tears in his eyes. She weekly turns her head towards him. "Beck?" she whispers quietly. Beck looks up and sees that Jade has finally woken up. "Jade! You're okay," he says, relieved. He sniffles and wipes his eyes, before gently kissing Jade's temple. Jade blinks groggily and looks around the room. "What...?" she begins. Beck holds up a cup of water with a straw. He guides the straw into Jade's mouth and she takes a small sip of water. "We have a beautiful baby girl. She's tiny, but she's doing well. They even moved her out of the NICU. She in the regular newborn nursery now," Beck says softly. Jade nods slowly and weakly. "I remember that...but everything after that is kind of a blur," she whispers. "You started to hemorrhage and they had to take you to surgery," Beck softly explains. Jade blinks groggily again. She gently runs her fingers over the closed incision on her abdomen. "What time is it?" she asks quietly. Beck looks at his watch. "Almost 3 am," he answers. Before either of them can say anything else, Dr. Linden enters the room. She smiles.

"Hello there, Jade. How are you feeling?" she asks. Jade shrugs weakly. "I've had better days," she replies softly. Dr. Linden smiles again. "I'm going to examine you, just to make sure that everything is okay," she says. Jade nods and lets the doctor examine her. Dr. Linden asks Jade to rate her pain level on a scale of 1 to 10. One means that she feels no pain and ten means that she is in unbearable pain. Jade tells Dr. Linden that her pain level is at about a seven or eight. Dr. Linden finishes up and she throws away her gloves. While she washes her hands at the sink, she glances back at Beck and Jade. "Your daughters are beautiful," she compliments. Beck and Jade both look at one another, confused. _"Daughters?"_ Beck questions. Jade furrows her eye brows. Dr. Linden turns the sink off and begins drying her hands with a paper towel. After throwing the paper towel away, she turns towards the confused couple. "One of the nurses was supposed to come in a tell you," she says, "You had twins, two beautiful little girls." Beck and Jade's jaws drop.

"This has got to be some mistake. I wasn't pregnant with twins," Jade says. Dr. Linden raises an eyebrow. "During surgery, Dr. Handle delivered a second baby," she tells the couple. Beck makes a confused face and tilts his head to the side. "How did my doctor not know that I was having twins?" Jade asks, utterly confused. Dr. Linden shrugs. "It's rare, but if twins are aligned just right and their heartbeats are in sync, it can trick doctors into thinking that there's only one baby," she says. Jade nods in shock. "How is she? ...The other baby," Beck asked. Dr. Linden smiles reassuringly. "She's surprisingly healthy for being born prematurely. She is slightly smaller and less developed than her sister, but she's doing great. Your little girls are fighters," she says. Beck and Jade both sigh in relief that their second baby is okay. Dr. Linden tells the couple more about the twins and Jade's recovery process, before having the twin brought into the room. Once the twins' incubators are wheeled in, Dr. Linden explains the differences between the two babies and she tells the couple about their health status. "If everything goes well and the twins stay healthy, you two can take them home in about a week," she says. When she's finished speaking, she leaves Beck and Jade alone with their new babies.

Beck holds the first twin, Baby A and Jade holds the second twin, Baby B. "Twins," Jade whispers. "We had twins." She looks at the tiny infant in her arms. The tiny baby girl tightly grips onto Jade's finger. Joyous tears roll down Jade's face. "They're so tiny," she whispers to Beck. Beck smiles. "They're perfect," he says, gently rocking Baby A. The two stay silent, mesmerized by the tiny babies.

The twins are half-identical, meaning they inherited the same exact genes from Jade, but they inherited different genes from Beck. The twins look just like Jade, especially Baby B. Baby A has Jade's nose and mouth. She has a round face like Jade, however her face is slightly more oval shaped than her mother's. She has Beck's brown eyes and Jade's natural, light brown hair. Baby B is the spitting image of Jade. She and her mother have the same eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, and face shape. The only physical characteristic that she inherited from Beck is his dark hair. Her hair colour is somewhere between Jade's natural brown hair colour and Beck's darker hair colour. Baby B's darker hair colour makes her look even more like her mother, since Jade keeps her hair dyed black.

"What are we gonna name them," Jade asks. "Well, I'll name Baby A and you'll name Baby B," Beck answers. Satisfied with Beck's answer, Jade stares at Baby B, thinking of the perfect name. After a few more minutes of silence, Beck and Jade both know what they're naming the twins. Beck shares Baby A's name first. "I decided to name her Brooklyn Jade. We'd called her Brooke for short. I choose Brooklyn because that's where she was born and I choose Jade after her amazing mother," he says. Jade smiles and blushes. She give Beck a kiss on the lips. "I love it! The name that I choose is Gabrielle Elizabeth. We can call her Gabbi. I choose Gabrielle because...well I just love the name and Elizabeth is dedicated to your mother," she says. Beck smiles. "That's a wonderful name," he tells Jade. The two state at their sleeping twin daughters. "Hello little Brooke and Gabby," Jade softly coos.

**_Brooklyn Jade Oliver-West_**

**_5 lbs. 5 oz._**

**_17.5 inches._**

**_Born at 11:57 pm on December 31st._**

**_Gabrielle Elizabeth Oliver-West_**

**_3 lbs. 1 oz._**

**_14.9 inches._**

**_Born at 12:07 am on January 1st._**


	2. The Beginning: Cabbie

"Okay, Babies A and B are out. Last but not least, here is Baby C," Dr. Montgomery announces. She is in the operating room, performing a C-section for Cat. She holds the tiny baby up for Cat to see. Cat and her husband, Robbie decided to have their triplets born via C-section. The nurses take the triplets to the NICU, while Dr. Montgomery closes Cat's surgical incisions. Once Dr. Montgomery is finishes, she has Cat brought to a recovery room.

A few hours later, the triplets are brought into Cat's hospital room. Dr. Montgomery tells Cat and Robbie about each of the triplets and their unique characteristics. There are two girls and one boy. Dr. Montgomery shows Cat and Robbie how to hold the tiny babies. "Although the triplets were born prematurely, they seem fairly healthy. However, we're going to keep monitoring them in the NICU for a while," she tells the couple, before leaving the room.

"Robbie! We're parents now!" Cat squeals excitedly. She is holding Baby A and Baby B. Robbie is holding Baby C. He smiles and looks at the baby in his arms. "They're so tiny and adorable!" Cat exclaims. Baby A is a boy and Baby B and Baby C are girls. "This is the best day of my life," Robbie says. He and Cat coo and speak in baby talk for next few hours.

**_Robert Alexander Valentine-Shapiro_**

**_3 lbs. 8 oz._**

**_16.4 inches._**

**_Born at 12:22 pm on November 22_****_nd_**

**_Abigail Caterina Valentine-Shapiro_**

**_3 lbs. 9 oz._**

**_16.2 inches._**

**_Born at 12:27 pm on November 22_****_nd_**

**_Addison Jade Valentine-Shapiro_**

**_3 lbs. 2 oz._**

**_16 inches._**

**_Born at 12:34 pm on November 22_****_nd_**

* * *

"I can't believe he's really gonna be ours!" Cat squeals. She, Robbie, Robbie Jr. (Alex), Abigail, and Addison are on their way to the adoption agency. The triplets are three years old now. Cat and Robbie are adopting Keegan, an 8-year-old boy.

Once they arrive at the agency, Cat and Robbie get the triplets out of their car seats and enter the building. They meet with the social worker that had been assigned to them. During their meeting, Cat and Robbie went through paperwork and signed documents. When they finally finished, Keegan was brought to them.

Since Keegan had already met Cat, Robbie, and the triplets on various occasions, he doesn't feel awkward around them. He loves Cat and Robbie and is excited to go home. Cat and Robbie sign a couple more papers, before they can take Keegan home.

After Cat, Robbie, the triplets, and Keegan get back to the house, everyone takes Keegan up to his new room. Cat explains where everything is and the household rules as they make their way upstairs. When Keegan enters his new bedroom, a huge smile spreads across his face. "Thank you so much mom and dad...is it okay if I call you guys that?" Keegan says, hugging Cat and Robbie. "Of course you call us mom and dad! You're part of the family!" Cat says happily, hugging her son back. The whole family joins together in a giant group hug.

**_Keegan Rex Valentine-Shapiro_**

**_59 lbs._**

**_4 feet, 6 inches_**

**_Born on April 25_****_th_**

**_Adopted on February 12_****_th_**


	3. The Beginning: Tandré

After a short three hour labour, Tori begins pushing. She and André are now married and they are having their first child, a baby boy.

"Good job, Tori! Keep going," Dr. Montgomery says. Tori pushes a few more times. She rests for a moment before pushing again. A loud wail fills the room. Dr. Montgomery wraps the baby in a blue blanket. "Would you like to cut the cord?" she asks André. André nods proudly and cuts his new son's umbilical cord. Dr. Montgomery puts a clamp on the baby's cord stump and hands him to Tori. "You have a beautiful baby boy, congratulations!" she says.

**_Caleb Antonio Harris-Vega_**

**_8 lbs. 2 oz._**

**_23 inches._**

**_Born at 6:16 pm on October 15th_**

* * *

"Come on, baby! Just one more push!" André coached. He held his pregnant wife, Tori's hand. Tori nods and gives one final push. Suddenly, the cries of an infant fill the room. Tori's OB/GYN, Dr. Montgomery, wraps the wailing infant in a soft pink blanket, then gently places her on her mother's chest. Happy tears flow down Tori's cheeks. The baby grasps Tori's finger and doesn't let go. "Awww," Tori coos. André leans down and kisses Tori on the lips.

The baby girl's skin colour is a mix of Tori and André's skin tones. She has her mother's high cheek bones and her father's dark hair. The baby yawns, still gripping onto her mother's finger. "She's absolutely perfect," Tori whispers.

**_Eden Alexandra Harris-Vega_**

**_6 lbs. 9 oz._**

**_20 inches._**

**_Born at 1:45 pm on September 9th_**


	4. Meet the Kids

**Meet the Kids!**

* * *

**The Oliver-West Family**

**Beck: **25-years-old, married to Jade, father of Nolan, Dylan, Brooke, and Gabbi, very easy going, successful actor, part of a multimillion dollar movie franchise, and loves his family very much

**Jade: **24-years-old, married to Beck, mother od Nolan, Dylan, Brooke, and Gabbi, much nicer than she was in high school, also a successful actress, stars in her own television show called Silent Screams, and very protective over her family

**Nolan: **8-years-old, Beck and Jade's oldest child, born when Jade was 16-years-old, looks a lot like Beck, best friends with Keegan, occasionally talks back to people, very cheeky, like to pull pranks, sometimes annoys Jade for fun, plays the guitar and piano, and closest to Beck

**Dylan: **7-years-old, born when Jade was 17-years-old, looks like a perfect mix of Beck and Jade, can be stubborn at times, loves sports, and closest to Beck

**Brooklyn: **5-years-old, twin to Gabbi, nicknamed Brooke, sings, dances, gymnast, pageants, looks like Jade, has Beck's eyes, personality is a lot like Jade's, sassy, can be bossy at times, favourite colours are pink and red, and closest to Beck

**Gabrielle: **5-years-old, twin to Brooke, nicknamed Gabbi, sings, dances, gymnast, acts, rides horses, plays piano, looks exactly like Jade, slightly smaller than Brooke, personality like Beck's, quietest person in the family, very curious, loves to learn, very intelligent, likes to help people, and closest to Jade

* * *

**The Valentine-Shapiro Family**

**Robbie:** 25-years-old, married to Cat, father of Keegan, Robbie Jr., Abby, and Addie, works as an architect, still kind of nerdy, and very rotective of his family

**Cat: **25-years-old, married to Robbie, mother of Keegan, Robbie Jr., Abby, and Addie, stay at home mom, very silly, helps out with the kids' pageants, very loving, and doesn't like to discipline her kids

**Keegan:** 8-years-old, Cat and Robbie's oldest child, adopted by Cat and Robbie when he was 6-years-old, blue eyes, bonde hair, freckled face, very charming and charismatic, likes to play pranks, very cheeky, and best friends with Nolan

**Robbie Jr:** 5-years-old, triplet to Abby and Addie, goes by his middle name, Alex, looks most like Robbie, very intuitive, likes to learn, best friends with Caleb, and closest to Robbie

**Abigail: **5-years-old, triplet to Alex and Addie, looks like Cat, sings, dances, tumbling, pageants, favourite colours are pink and green, and closest to Cat

**Addison:** 5-years-old, triplet to Abby and Alex, looks most like Cat, has her hair dyed red like her mother's, sings, dances, pageants, favourite colour is blue, and closest to Cat

* * *

**The Harris-Vega Family:**

**André:** 26-years-old, married to Tori, father of Eden and Caleb, still very focused on his music, very successful singer and song writer, and very involved as a father

**Tori:** 26-years-old, married to André, mother of Eden and Caleb, also a successful singer and songwriter, and very loving

**Caleb:** 6-years-old, Tori and André's oldest child, looks more like Tori, really good singer but isn't interested in performing arts, best friends with Alex, and mama's boy

**Eden:** 5-years-old, Tori and André's youngest child, has her mother's cheekbones, got her singing talent from both parents, sings, dances, pageants, plays the piano, and daddy's girl

* * *

**The Lancaster-Vega Family**

**Owen:** 28-years-old, married to Trina, father of Isabelle, Maddie, and Mackenzie, wife died while giving birth to Maddie, met Trina at work

**Trina:** 27-years-old, married to Owen, mother to Mackenzie, stepmother to Isabelle and Maddie, was a professional dancer before becoming a fashion designer, helps the kids with their pageants

**Isabelle:** 11-years-old, oldest child, still upset about her mother's death, light brown hair, green eyes, likes to play tricks on people, can be very mean to people, somewhat resentful towards towards all of the kids escpecially Paige and Mackenzie, dances, gymnast, and closest to Owen

**Maddie:** 8-years-old, middle child, blonde hair, green eyes, sometimes blames herself for her mother's death, dances, pageants, gymnast, has a crush on Keegan, and closest to Trina

**Mackenzie:** 5-years-old, youngest child, looks like Trina, sassy, dances, gymnast, pageants, doesn't understand why Isabelle hates her so much, and closest to Trina

* * *

**Other Characters**

**Ms. Jules: **The girls' dance teacher

**Kelsey: **7-years-old, on the girls' dance team, bullies the girls

**Nancy: **32-years-old, mother of Kelsey, body builder

**Callie: **5-years-old, used to be on the girls' dance team, left studio due to Kelsey's bullying

**Brenda:** 27-years-old, Beck's older sister, mother of Paisley and Paige, moves into the house next to Cat and Robbie's house

**Paige: **5-years-old, child of Brenda, identical twin to Paisley, niece of Beck and Jade, dances, good friends with all of the kids

**Paisley: **5-years-old, child of Brenda, identical twin to Paige, niece of Beck and Jade, dances, also good friends with all of the kids

**Caroline: **16-years-old, Jade's favourite cousin, looks just like Jade, sisterly relationship with Jade, dances, gymnast, rides horses, funny, clumsy

* * *

Beck and Jade live in a mansion at the end of a cul-de-sac. Cat and Robbie live in the mansion directly to the right of Beck and Jade's house. Tori and André's mansion is directly to the left of Beck and Jade's house. Trina and her family live in the mansion next to Tori and André's mansion. Beck and Jade have an inground pool and hot tub in their backyard.

All of the kids get along fairly well. Eden, Mackenzie, Abby, Addie, Brooke, Gabbi, Caleb, and Alex are all very close friends and they homeschool together. Keegan, Nolan, Dylan, Paige, and Isabelle homeschool together.

Eden, Mackenzie, Abby, Addie, Brooke, and Gabbi are on a competitive dance team along with one other 7 year old girl named Kelsey. Their dance teacher is Ms. Jules.

The kids dance at Reflections Dance Studio, which is a very exclusive place. The studio is audition-only and only the best of the best get in. They have world famous instructors and offer top notch classes in ballet, hip hop, lyrical, acro, tumbling, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, and other various dance genres. All students are required to take at least one ballet class per week and since the kids are on one of the competition teams, they are also required to take tumbling, acro, and lyrical classes. The Reflections Dance Company (RDC) is a separate branch from the Reflections Dance Studio (RDS). The RDC is made up of competition teams. To be accepted into the RDC, people must audition. Gabbi, Brooke, Eden, Mackenzie, Abby, and Addie are on the mini elite competition team. The mini elite competition team is the most advanced competition team for children that are 5-7 years old. The junior competition teams are for children that are 8-12 years old, the teen competition teams are for dancers that are 13-15 years old, and the senior teams are for dancers that are at least 16 years old.


	5. The Competition: Part 1

**The Competition: Dance Class**

The kids prepare for their upcoming competition.

* * *

Gabbi is in her parents' room, folding laundry with Jade. Gabbi takes out one of Beck's t-shirts and folds it the way Jade showed her to. She then places it in a pile of Beck's shirts. Jade picks up a multicoloured tribal printed dance top. "Is this the bra that you were looking for, Gabz?" she asks, holding the top up. Gabbi looks at the top and nods. "Yes! Thanks, mommy! And by the way, it's not a bra it's a _bra top,_" she says as Jade hands the top to her. Jade rolls her eyes. "I'm sorry. Here is your _bra top,_" she says sarcastically. She and Gabbi fold clothing for half an hour, before stopping.

"You and Brooke have class in an hour. It's time for you two to get dressed for dance," Jade tells Gabbi. Gabbi finishes folding her shirt and puts it down. "Why do we have to get ready so early?" she asks. "Because it's our turn for carpool and I have to pick Mackenzie, Abby, Addie, and Eden," Jade answers. Gabbi furrows her eyebrows. "But they live next door," she says. Jade ruffles her daughter's hair. "I know, but we need to pick up your sister's new jazz shoes before class. Now, go get ready please," she says. Satisfied with her mother's answer, Gabbi obediently skips out of the room.

"Brooke, we need to get ready for dance class," Gabbi tells her sister. "KK!" Brooke responds. Gabbi closes her sister's bedroom door and goes to her own room. She puts on the tribal print dance top that Jade found while they were folding. Since the top has black accents, she decides to wear her black dance shorts. She grabs a light hoodie from her closet and slips a pair of loose athletic shorts on over her dance wear. Then, she goes back to Jade. "I'm ready, mommy!" she announces. Jade smiles. "Awesome!" she praises, high fiving her daughter. A short while later, Brooke comes down. She is wearing a flowery sundress over a pink bra top and neon blue dance shorts. "I'm ready too!" she says. She and Gabbi grab their matching, monogrammed dance bags and follow their mother out the door.

* * *

Jade, Gabbi, and Brooke stop at Cat and Robbie's house first. The Valentine-Shapiros live in the house that's directly to the right of Beck and Jade's house. Jade knocks on the door. A couple of seconds later, Keegan, Cat and Robbie's 8-year-old adoptive son answers the door. "Hey, Keegan. Are Abby and Addie ready?" Jade greets. "Yeah, they'll be here in a sec," Keegan says. As if on cue, Abby and Addie come running to the door. Abigail (Abby), Addison (Addie), and Robbie Jr. (Alex) are Cat and Robbie's 5-year-old triplets. They homeschool with Brooke and Gabbi. "Hi, Aunt Jadey!" Addie greets. Jade smiles and waves. Abby and Addie gather their dance bags and leave.

Jade, Gabbi, Brooke, Abby, and Addie walk to Tori and André's house next. The Harris-Vega household lives directly to the left of Beck and Jade. Abby rings the door bell and everyone waits. Tori answers the door with her 5-year-old daughter, Eden and Trina's 5-year-old daughter, Mackenzie. Tori and Jade greet each other, while the kids greet Eden and Mackenzie. Tori hands Eden and Mackenzie their dance bags, then Jade leaves with the kids.

The kids pile into Jade's minivan and buckle their seatbelts. Once everyone is situated with their seatbelts on, Jade pulls out of her driveway and heads to the dance shop. "I'm gonna stop and pick up Brooke's new jazz shoes before we go to dance, okay?" Jade announces. "Okay!" the kids say in unison. After a short five minute drive, Jade arrives at the dance store. She quickly runs in, gets the shoes, and returns to her car. She buckles her seatbelt again, before beginning the 45 minute drive to the dance studio.

* * *

"So, what are you guys doing for the competition this Saturday?" Jade asks. The kids start talking all at once. "Whoa! One at a time. Eden, you go first. Then, Abby, Mackenzie, Addie, Brooke, and Gabbi are next," Jade says. She put Gabbi last, because she was the most patient and mature child in the group. Eden tells Jade about her contemporary solo called Garden. Next, Abby tells Jade about her lyrical solo called Dreamer. Mackenzie talks about her hip hop solo called Funky Fresh and Addie tells everyone about her jazz solo called Get Loud. Then Brooke talks about her tap solo called Forget You. Finally, Gabbi tells everyone about her lyrical solo called Castle on a Cloud. As Gabbi finishes talking about her solo, Jade pulls into the parking lot of the dance studio. She parks, then helps the kids out of the car.

After making sure that all the kids have what they need, Jade bring them into the studio and the group go to the kids' cubbies. Each child puts their bag in their cubby. They take off whatever they are wearing over their dance wear and put it in their cubbies as well. Then, they change into the dance shoes. After they put their dance shoes on, the kids head to their class. Jade sits in the mezzanine to watch the kids and do some work. For children that are five years old or younger, they must have parent or guardian stay at the studio with them.

* * *

"Hi, Ms. Jules!" Gabbi greets politely as she and her friends enter the dance studio. Ms. Jules, the kids' dance teacher looks up from her papers. "Hello, Gabrielle," she says. For the most part, Ms. Jules doesn't use nicknames. She addresses each child by their full first name. The other kids greet their teacher, before they go to the middle of the floor and warm up. After the remaining classmate enters the room and gets warmed up, Ms. Jules starts teaching. "Alright, ladies! Stand up! Let's start with the group dance," she says.

The kids grab their props and spread out into their starting formation for the dance. Gabbi is in the middle and towards the back, while Brooke, Kelsey, who's a member of the team, and Mackenzie are in a group to the left and Eden, Abby, and Addie are in a group to the left. Everyone except Gabbi is holding a giant fake lollipop. Gabbi is in the middle because she is the featured dancer in the routine. Gabbi's lollipop prop is on the ground behind her. Ms. Jules starts the music and watches her students. The children are doing an acro/tumbling routine to the song Lollipop by MIKA. Gabbi, who starts the dance, counts the beats in her head until she's supposed to begin. On cue, Gabbi takes a running start and does a round off back handspring back tuck. She then picks up her prop and holds it like the rest of the group. Once she has her prop, everyone begins dancing. They do fan kicks and turns with the lollipops. At one point, everyone puts their props down and does a side aerial. They end with in the same formation that they started in, except Gabbi is in the front, holding her lollipop over her head. Ms. Jules critiques the children, then has them run the routine a few more times.

Next, the kids work on the solos individually with Ms. Jules. Once the kids finish working on their solos, Ms. Jules puts a stack of boxes down in the middle of the room. The girls excitedly look at the boxes, knowing that their costumes are inside. All the girls love Costume Day. On Costume Day, they get to see and try on their new costumes. Parents have to come to costume day as well. Cat, Trina and Tori, who just arrive at the dance studio, head straight to their kids. Jade makes her way down to her kids to. Ms. Jules invites the parents into the her studio. The parents stand with their children as Ms. Jules goes over each student's assigned dance routines.

* * *

Some of the boxes are large and some are small. Once Ms. Jules finishes talking, she opens the boxes. She and the parents begin taking out costumes and figuring out who's wearing what. Jade takes out a pair of spandex leggings and reads the label. "Mackenzie, I think I found your costume," she announces. Mackenzie and Trina go over to Jade and look at the leggings. They take more of Mackenzie's costume pieces out of the box and look at them. When Trina takes out a top, she makes a disgusted face. "Ugh," Trina mutters. Jade looks over at Trina and she also makes a disgusted face when she sees the skirt. She puts the costume that she was looking at down and turns to Trina. "That has got to be the ugliest thing I have ever seen," she says. Trina nods in agreement. The skirt is short and it's covered in blue feathers. It has a furry green shrug attached to it and it's supposed to be worn over a yellow feathered shirt. The colours clash and the shirt looks like a big mess of rainbow vomit. The leggings are an obnoxiously bright shade of neon yellow. Trina and Jade look through the rest of the costume pieces. They find a gigantic multicoloured belt with neon coloured studs covering it, some neon pink fishnet arm warmers, a red feathered collar, and a red sequinned baseball cap. Mackenzie stares at her blindingly hideous costume. "That's my costume?" she asks worriedly. Trina gives her daughter a fake smile, so that she doesn't worry. "Just try it on and we'll see how it looks," she says in a sugary sweet voice. Mackenzie looks at her mother unsurely, but starts putting the costume on over her dance wear.

Jade continues to look for her daughters' costumes. "Mommy! Look! I found my solo costume!" Brooke announces proudly. She holds up a glittery metallic red costume. "It's soooo pretty! I love the sparkles!" she exclaims. Jade smiles and nods. "Very cute!" she says. Brooke then leaves to show her friends the costume.

Finally Jade finds a costume with Gabbi's name marked on it. She calls her daughter over to look at her costume. Gabbi skips over and looks at her costume. The dress is a greyish champagne colour. The silky top is darker than the bottom and it looks like it's been laced up. The bottom part of the dress is tattered and jagged. Even though she doesn't have the most sparkly or luxurious looking costume, Gabbi still loves her costume, because she thinks that it fits her song and dance well.

Addie, Abby, and Eden have their costumes on. Abby has a pale blue dress on that flows when she moves. Addie's costume is two pieced and it's neon yellow with sparkles covering it. Eden has a pale green costume with a tutu. It has flowers on it. The three girls model their costumes for Ms. Jules and their parents.

Jade helps her daughters get their costumes on. Brooke's costume fits like a glove and she prances around the studio, showing it off. Gabbi's on the other hand, is way too big. She's practically swimming in it. Jade tries to adjust and tighten it, but even on the smallest adjustment, it's still too large.

Mackenzie crosses her arms and frowns as she looks in the mirror, wearing her solo costume. She and her mother both hate it. She walks over to her friends and shows them her costume. Cat gasps quietly and puts her hand over her mouth. Eden starts giggling when she sees her cousin's costume. However, Tori gives her a look and her laughter ceases. Abby and Brooke are trying not to laugh, while Addie is too flabbergasted to say anything. Gabbi studies the costume carefully, trying to find something good about it, but even she is unable to find anything pretty about the it. "It...umm...fits you really well," she tells Mackenzie. She pulls up on of the straps on her dress. Cat, Jade and Tori look at the costume too. "Well...it certainly is...unique," Tori says. Trina rolls her eyes. "It's hideous!" she exclaims. Mackenzie looks at her mother. "...Thanks, mom!" she says sarcastically. "There is no way I'm letting you perform in that!" Trina says. Kelsey walks by and stares at Mackenzie. "WOW! You look disgusting!" she exclaims loudly. She smugly walks away, drawing attention to her pretty costume.

Mackenzie begins to cry. Everyone tries to cheer her up. "Don't cry, Kenz! She just said that to feel better to herself," Cat comforts, hugging the crying child. Ms. Jules hears the crying and walks over. "Hey! What have I said about crying in the dance studio!?" she snaps as she comes over. She notices Mackenzie's costume and she makes a disgusted face. "Ew! That costume is terrible! I knew I shouldn't have let the new assistant dance instructor design costumes!" she exclaims. She kneels down in front of Mackenzie. "We can go shopping for another costume together. How's that sound?" she says. Mackenzie sniffles and nods. "Okay," she says with a small smile. Ms. Jules pats her on the back, before asking everyone to gather in the middle of the room.

* * *

Ms. Jules studies each child's costumes and writes notes down about how the costume looks and fits. She notices that Gabbi's costume is way too big. "Wow...that is waaaay too big. I really need to take that lady off costume duty. She was totally off when she estimated what size to order," she says. Jade raises an eyebrow. "What did she think she was estimating for!? An elephant!?" she exclaims.

Once Ms. Jules finishes dealing with the girl's solo costumes, she get bring out a big box containing the group dance costumes. She opens the box and hands each girl her costume. The costumes are rainbow colored and they have poofy tutus. Ms. Jules has the girls try on their costumes. After the girls have changed, she makes them run the group dance.

Since everything looks good, Ms. Jules lets the girls change out of their costumes. She reminds the parents about the competition, then dismisses the class. Each student takes their costumes home.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! Please review! Reviews encourage me to write faster! :) I also updated chapter 4 (Meet the Kids). **


	6. The Competition: Part 2

**The Competition: Vegas, Here We Come!**

For their dance competition, the girls have to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada.

* * *

"Wake up, kiddos!" Tori says, opening the curtains in her daughter, Eden's room. Abby, Addie, Mackenzie, Brooke, Gabbi, and their mothers had slept over the night before. "Get up, girls! We don't want to be late for Ms. Jules!" Jade says.

The girls have a dance competition in Las Vegas in two days and whenever they have competitions that are out of state or are far away, they sleepover at one person's house, so everyone is together. The drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas is about 5-6 hours. Whenever they have out of state competitions, their dance teacher, Ms. Jules likes to take them to the competitions a day or two early.

When she hears her mother's voice, Gabbi sits up and yawns. "Hi, mommy! Hi Aunt, Tori! Hi, Aunt Cat! Hi, Aunt Trina!" she says cheerfully. The girls call Tori, Trina, Cat, and Jade their aunts. The mothers smile at the small girl and then walk around the room, waking up the other sleeping girls.

"Go away, mom," Eden mumbles, half asleep. Tori rubs her daughter's back to wake her up. She turns on the lights. Slowly, the other girls begin to wake up one by one. "What time is it?" Addie asks groggily. Tori glances at the clock on the wall. "Almost midnight," she replies. Everyone except Gabbi groans. Eden rolls back over, asleep. Abby puts her pillow over her head and Brooke snuggles under her blanket. Mackenzie and Addie shield their eyes with their arms. Gabbi gets out of her sleeping bag and starts rolling it up.

"Come on, girls! Ms. Jules wants us at the dance studio by 1 am," Cat says. Everyone groans again. "Why so early!?" Mackenzie whines. Tori gently pats her niece on the back. "Because Ms. Jules likes to start traveling early in the morning, so we can avoid traffic," Trina says. Brooke and Abby sit up, rubbing their eyes. Addie and Eden eventually sit up too. "At least you guys don't have to get changed," Jade says. Ms. Jules lets the girls come in their pajamas, because they usually sleep on the bus.

Gabbi packs her stuff up in her duffle bag and brings it to the front door. She places her duffle bag with the other girl's bags and costumes, then she returns to Eden's room. "Come on, guys! Wake up!" she says. After a few minutes, all of the girls are awake and packing their stuff up.

"This is not cool!" Abby complains. She stuffs her teddy bear into her backpack. Once all the girls are packed up, they bring their bags down to the front door, like Gabbi did. Then they head to the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

After eating a delicious blueberry pancake and bacon breakfast, everyone congregates at the front door. Each parent goes over a checklist, making sure that they have everything. Once everyone is sure that they have everything they need, they begin to bring their belongings to the car. Since everyone can't fit in Tori's minivan, Jade is going to drive people to the dance studio in her minivan.

Tori and Trina are traveling together with Abby, Brooke, Mackenzie, and Eden. Cat and Jade are traveling with Gabbi. Only five out of the six kids fit in Tori's car, Gabbi travels with her mother and Cat. She's totally fine with this, because she loves talking to "the grownups" by herself.

The kids traveling with Tori and Trina are asleep before they even leave the driveway. Gabbi talks with Jade and Cat for the first 10 minutes of the trip to the dance studio, before falling asleep. Jade and Cat converse quietly for the rest of the drive.

* * *

Tori pulls into the Reflections Dance Studio's driveway, followed by Jade. They park near the bus. The studio owns four coach buses for traveling to competitions. They'll be traveling in Bus #3.

Ms. Jules stands at the entrance to the bus, greeting the children as they file onto the bus. The parents carry some of their children's belongings onto the bus. They store the rest of their stuff in a compartment underneath the bus. Since the mini elite competition team is so small, each person has plenty of room to sit.

A few minutes later, Kelsey and her mother arrive. They load themselves and their things onto bus. Ms. Jules is the last person on the bus. When she sits down, she tells the bus driver where to go.

Abby and Brooke sit together. Both of them have already gone back to sleep and their heads are resting against one another's. Eden and Mackenzie, who are also asleep again, sit together. They're both slumped over and leaning on each other. Addie sits with her mom, Cat and Gabbi sit with Jade. Addie and Cat are cuddled together under a blanket made out of sweatshirt material. Gabbi is on Jade's lap. Both she and her mother are asleep. Gabbi has her arms loosely wrapped around Jade and Jade has her arm draped protectively over Gabbi's tiny body. They are snuggled underneath a fleece University of Toronto blanket.

Beck attended the University of Toronto for his bachelor's and master's degrees and Jade attended for her master degree. She went to Juilliard for her bachelor's degree. Originally, Jade disliked Canadian, because she thought that they were too nice. She eventually decided to go to the University of Toronto with Beck, so she, Nolan, and Dylan wouldn't be split up for another four years. She actually had a great time in Canada, but she refuses to admit it.

Tori uses The Slap, while Trina has her headphones on, dancing around in her seat.

The bus ride to Las Vegas is very peaceful and quiet. They arrive at the Venetian hotel at around 6:15 am.

* * *

The kids wake up after the bus parks. Everyone files off the bus and gathers their things. Ms. Jules checks everybody in and gives everyone their room keys.

Cat, Jade, and their children are sharing a room. Tori, Trina, and their kids are sharing a room with Kelsey and her mother. Their rooms are right next to each other. Ms. Jules has her own room, across the hall.

Since the kids had gone to bed at 8 pm and slept on the bus, they're energized and excited. Their mothers, on the other hand are still exhausted. Ms. Jules had rented out one of the hotel's ballrooms for the girls to practice in, so the girls change into their dance wear, then head to the ballroom with Ms. Jules.

Brooke is wearing a red bra top and black dance shorts with white polka dots on them. She has her hair fastened into a high ponytail with a white bow.

Gabbi is wearing her plaid bra top and yellow dance shorts. She has two French braided pigtails in her hair.

Abby is wearing a sequin orange top with lime green trim and green shorts. She has her hair up in a high ponytail, like Brooke.

Addie is wearing her matching zebra print bra top and dance shorts. She has her hair up in two high pigtails.

Eden is wearing an emerald green crop top with black trim and black shorts with a green waistband. Her hair is in a neat ballet bun.

Mackenzie is wearing her matching purple cheetah print bra top and dance shorts. Her hair is in a low side ponytail.

* * *

"Alright, ladies! Let's warm up first, then we'll run our numbers!" Ms. Jules announces. The girls stretch and warm up, grab their lollipop props, then get into their starting positions for the group number. Ms. Jules starts the music and Gabbi begins the dance.

Gabbi does a round off back handspring back tuck and lands gracefully, before running to pick up her prop. The group sashays to the left, then they sashay to the right and leap forward. Everything is going well until Addie is hit in the face with Kelsey's prop. Ms. Jules stops the music and runs over to her.

"Addison! Are you okay?" Ms. Jules exclaims. Addie is holding her nose, but she takes her hand away to speak. "My nose hurts a little bit, but I think I'm okay," she says. Ms. Jules pats her on the back. "Do you want some ice?" she offers. Addie shakes her head. "No thank you." Ms. Jules then turns towards Kelsey. "What do you say, Kelsey?" she says. Kelsey rolls her eyes. "Sooooorry," she says sarcastically. Addie forgives her and they run the dance again.

Once Ms. Jules is satisfied with the dance, she has the girls run their solos.

Abby runs her lyrical solo, Dreamer.

Eden runs her contemporary solo, The Secret Garden.

Brooke runs her tap solo, Forget You.

Mackenzie runs her hip hop solo, Funky Fresh.

Addie runs her acro/tumbling solo, Get Loud.

Kelsey runs her lyrical solo, Thunder.

Then, last but not least, Gabbi runs her lyrical solo, Castle on a Cloud.

Ms. Jules critiques each girl's solo, before having them do their solos one more time.

Once everyone runs their solo a second time, Ms. Jules dismisses the kids and takes them back to their parents.

* * *

For dinner, the girls order room service. As they eat, they watch The Little Mermaid in Cat, Jade, Brooke, Abby, Addie, and Gabbi's room. They're having another sleepover. Since she's always mean to them, nobody wants to invite Kelsey over, but Cat and Tori include her and her mother so they doesn't feel left out. However, neither of them like Kelsey and her mother very much either.

Kelsey's mother drops her off and goes back to her room.

The girls sing along to the movie and dance around. They take selfies and pictures with each other to post on The Slap. All of the girls have PearPhones and Slap accounts. However, their parents monitor their accounts very carefully and they can see everything that goes on on their accounts. They can control who the girls follow, who follows the girls, and they approve the girl's posts before they get uploaded. All the girls follow each other and they all follow their parents and friends. Kelsey forced all the girls to follow her, so out of fear, the girls all follow her too.

"Hey! Broke, get in my selfie!" Kelsey orders. Brooke takes a step back. "I don't want to. And it's Brooke, by the way," she says. Kelsey glares at her. "Selfie. Now," she commands through gritted teeth. Frightened, Brooke joins Kelsey's selfie. She tries to smile, but ends up looking rather terrified in the picture. Kelsey posts the picture on her Slap page. Brooke avoids Kelsey for the rest of the night.

* * *

At 9:30 pm, the kids settle down and get ready for bed. They brush their teeth and change into their pajamas.

Kelsey refuses to sleep on the floor with the kids, so Cat, Trina, Jade, and Tori are forced to share the one bed, while Kelsey sleeps in the other bed. Although the bed is bigger than the one they had to share in Yerba, it's still very cramped.

"Everyone shut up!" commands Kelsey as she slips her sleeping mask over her eyes. "I need my beauty sleep so stay silent!"

The girls, huddle together in the corner that's the farthest away from Kelsey. They build a fort with half of their sleeping bags, then they share the rest of the sleeping bags.

"Guys, I don't really like Kelsey very much," Addie whispers. Mackenzie hugs her. "I don't either. She's so mean to us," she whispers. The other girls agree. "One time, she tripped me onstage during a duet. She said if I ever tell on her, she'll tell people that I suck my thumb," Eden quietly tells her friends. Brooke looked at her friend, confused. "But you don't suck your thumb," she whispers. "I know! She said she'll make up lies about me if I tell," Eden whispers. "She told me that if we tell on her, she'll beat us up," Abby adds. The girls quietly talk about what Kelsey's done to them and the threats that she's made. The all fall into a restless sleep, scared that Kelsey will do something to them.


	7. The Competition: Part 3

**The Competition: The Bully**

Kelsey has a few tricks up her sleeve and the girl's trip to Las Vegas turns out to be a lot less fun than they thought it would be.

* * *

At midnight, Kelsey wakes up and sneaks out of bed. She grabs a cup from the bathroom and fills it up with hot water, wraps a towel around it and puts it down by the girl's fort. Kelsey picks up the steaming cup with hot water and places next to Gabbi's hand. She carefully uses her right hand to grab Gabbi's arm, without waking her up. She holds her phone in her left hand. She puts Gabbi's hand into the hot water. She rapidly snaps a few pictures, before tiptoeing away. Gabbi wakes up and yelps in pain. She yanks her hand out of the burning water.

The screaming wakes up the other girls and their parents.

Gabbi rushes to Jade, whimpering. The other girls follow her and Jade flicks on the lights. "What's going on!?" she exclaims. Gabbi holds up her hand. Jade looks at her daughter's hand. It looks red and scalded. She gently brings Gabbi's hand closer to her face, so she can see it better. She and some of the other kids gasp. Tori gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom. "Gabz, what happened?" Jade asks. Kelsey stares Gabbi down with a smirk. "Yeah, _Gabz!_ What happened?" she says half mockingly and half threateningly. Gabz quickly glances at Kelsey, then back at her mother. "I...umm...must have...umm...accidentally sleepwalked and…umm… filled a cup with…umm… hot water...then...I...umm...stuck my hand in it," she lies. She hates lying to her mother, but Kelsey scares her way more than Jade. Jade raises an eyebrow and gives her daughter a suspicious look. "Uh huh," she says, not believing Gabbi's story.

Jade can tell right away that Gabbi is lying, because she didn't making eye contact and she kept saying "umm." Tori comes back with a cool, wet wash cloth and she gently wraps in around Gabbi's hand.

Kelsey fakes laughs. "Oh, Gabbi! You're so silly!" she says in an overly sweet voice.

Cat, Tori, and Trina put their kids back to sleep, while Jade tends to Gabbi's hand, before putting her back to sleep as well. "Sleep tight, kiddo," Jade says. She kisses Gabbi on the forehead and ruffles her hair. "Goodnight, mommy! Thank you for taking care me. I love you," Gabbi says. She rests her head on her pillow and closes her eyes.

* * *

Gabbi waits for everyone to fall asleep again. She listens carefully to everyone's breathing, making sure that they are indeed asleep. She silently crawls out of the fort and tiptoes to Jade. Luckily for her, Jade isn't sleeping in between anyone. Instead Jade is on the end of the bed.

"Mommy?" Gabbi whispers quietly. She gently taps Jade. Jade opens her eyes and sees her daughter standing by her head. "Is everything okay?" she asks quietly. Gabbi doesn't know how to answer Jade's question and she stays quiet. Her hand stoppedhurting, but she is extremely scared of Kelsey, so she isn't sure if that qualifies as being "okay."

"May I please talk to you in the hall?" Gabbi whispers. Jade knows Gabbi is serious about something, because normally her daughter rarely complains or wakes people up when they're asleep. "Sure," she mumbles. Jade quietly slips out of bed, grabs her room key, and goes into the hallway with Gabbi.

Gabbi looks at her hotel room's door. She holds Jade's hand and walks out of the hallway. She stops by the elevators. "Why do we have to be all the way over here?" Jade asks. Gabbi looks around her, making sure that nobody can hear her. "So no one can hear me talking," she says quietly. Jade kneels down in front of her daughter, so her face is level with Gabbi's face. "What's going on, sweetheart?" she asks. Gabbi is about to tell Jade about Kelsey's threats, but she starts to imagine herself being beat up and gets scared.

"Umm! Never mind! It's...umm...not important anymore! Umm...let's go back to sleep!" Gabbi says quickly, looking away from her mother. She tries to run back to the room, but Jade holds onto her. Jade sits down on the floor, picks her daughter up, and places her on her lap. "Whoa! Slow down there, kiddo! I did not just get out of bed at 1 am and come with you to the elevators to have you change your mind and go back to sleep," she says. Gabbi looks at her feet. "Please! It's not important anymore! Umm...I'm sorry for...umm...waking you up! Can we please just go back to...umm...the room?" she pleads. Jade puts her hand on her hips. "Gabbi..." she says sternly.

"I'm really...umm...tired now!" Gabbi announces. She rests her head on Jade's shoulder and pretends to snore. Jade sighs. "Gabbi, I know you're lying to me," she says. Gabbi picks her head up and looks at Jade, astonished. "What!? How!? Wait! Umm...I mean...I'm not lying..." she says. Jade raise an eyebrow. _"Oh really?"_ she questions. Gabbi nods quickly. "Umm...really!" she blurts out. She sighs. "Am I in trouble?" she whispers. "Not unless you tell me what's going on," Jade responds.

Gabbi signs again. "But I can't tell you what's going on!" she whispers. "You could tell me a few minutes ago. What made you suddenly change your mind?" Jade says, trying to make eye contact. Gabbi avoids Jade's eyes. "I already said that I can't tell you!" she exclaims quietly.

Jade gives her daughter a stern look. "_Gabrielle Elizabeth Oliver-West,_ if you don't tell me right now, I'm taking you out of this dance competition!" she says. Gabbi looks at her mother, her eyes wide with fear. She doesn't want to let her friends down. She wonders if Jade would really pull her out of the competition. She knows that Jade only uses her and her siblings' full names if she's being extremely serious. Tears start to form in Gabbi's eyes. She buries her face in Jade's shoulder.

"I really really want to tell you, but I can't!" Gabbi cries. Jade hugs her daughter and gingerly strokes her hair. "Baby, you know you can tell me anything, right? I promise, I won't get mad," she tells her crying daughter. Gabbi sniffles and looks Jade in the eyes. "Do you _promise?_" she whispers. Jade nods. "I promise," she says sincerely. _"Pinky swear?"_ Gabbi asks, holding up her tiny pinkie. Jade smiles. "Pinky swear," she says, hooking her pinkie with Gabbi's. Gabbi wipes her eyes and begins talking.

"I think Kelsey is the one who burned my hand. She hit Brooke in the face with her prop during rehearsal too. And Eden told us that Kelsey tripped her onstage during their duet, but she isn't allowed to tell anyone, because Kelsey threatened her. She said that Kelsey would tell lies about her if she told anyone. Then Abby said that Kelsey will beat us up if we ever tell on her. I don't want Kelsey to beat me up! I don't want her to beat anyone else up either!" Gabbi nervously tells Jade. Jade nods slowly and hugs her daughter. "Have you ever heard or seen Kelsey do those things?" she asks. Gabbi nods. "I saw her hit Brooke and I looked like she did it on purpose. And I've heard her threaten people before," she says. She glances around to make sure that she and Jade are still alone. She leans closer to Jade. "When Ms. Jules told me about my solo for this competition, Kelsey came up to me after class when I was changing. She told me that she'd get back at me for stealing her solo," she whispers into her mother's ear. Jade's mouth drops open.

"I'm telling that girl's mother right now!" she exclaims. She picks Gabbi up and starts power walking back to their hotel rooms. "No! Mommy! Please don't tell anyone! Kelsey is gonna hurt me and everyone will think I'm a tattletale!" Gabbi desperately pleads.

Jade stops. She knows what it's like to be called names. When she was pregnant with Nolan and Dylan, she endured endless months of slut shaming and name calling. She sets Gabbi down and looks her in the eyes.

Jade signs. "Fine. I won't say anything _yet,_ but if that girl does or says anything bad to you or any other child, I'm going to speak up. Deal?" she says. Gabbi nods. "Deal!"

The two return back to their hotel room.

* * *

Jade quietly opens the door. She and Gabbi are surprised to see everyone awake again. Addie is crying and the front of her pajamas are soaking wet. Kelsey is laughing and pointing at her.

"Ha ha! You peed your pants!" Kelsey chants loudly. "No, I didn't!" Addie exclaims. Kelsey smirks. "Then how come your pants are wet!?" she questions. Her laughter ceases and she gives Addie a threatening look. She points to the girls and punches her palm as a warning. Addie and the other girls tense up with fear. Cat takes Addie into the bathroom to get changed.

The other girls are really frightened by Kelsey's warning and they quickly retreat back to their fort. Gabbi runs to her friends and hugs them. "What happened?" she asks. Mackenzie explains the situation and fills Gabbi in. Addie returns to the fort, wearing a new set of pajamas. "I didn't pee in my pants! I promise!" she says. Gabbi hugs her. "We know. If you really did pee, it would be smelly," Abby says.

The girls huddle together, staying as close together as possible. They all hold onto each other, trying to forget about Kelsey.

The rest of the night goes by without any major disruptions, but none of the girls except Kelsey were well rested. Many hours pass before the girls fell asleep.

* * *

Tori, Cat, Jade, and Trina walked over to the fort to wake their kids up. They saw that each of the girls was holding at least one other person's hand and they were curled up and huddled together. "Good morning, girls," Cat says cheerfully. The girls all jolt awake and they look around for Kelsey, but they relax when they realize that it's just their mothers.

Each girl comes out of the fort. When everyone is out of the fort, the girl quickly pair up. Abby and Brooke are a pair, Gabbi and Addie are a pair, and Eden and Mackenzie are a pair. The girls stick by each other's sides.

While they were awake, the girls came up with plans on how to deal with Kelsey. They decided to go with Abby's plan of using the Buddy System.

Trina orders room service for breakfast. The room service waiter puts the table between the two beds in the room. Kelsey sits on the bed she slept in, all by herself. The other girls stay together on the bed that their mothers slept in.

The girls pick at their food and barely eat anything. They're too busy watching Kelsey and making sure she isn't going to do anything to have much of an appetite.

After breakfast, Kelsey's mother picks her up and takes her back to their room.

"Good riddance!" Gabbi whispers as she shuts the door behind Kelsey. Her friends look at her with puzzled expressions. "Good riddance?" Brooke questions. "What's that supposed to mean!?" Addie asks. Gabbi shrugs. "Well, good means something that's not bad. And _rid_dance is probably like getting _rid_ of something. I don't know. I was watching a movie and these two people had a fight. Then, when one of the people left the room, the other yelled 'Good riddance' at them. I thought I sounded cool," she explains.

Since Kelsey is gone, the girl's appetites return. They sit together and munch of the remainder of their breakfasts.

* * *

Once the girls finish eating, Mackenzie and Eden get worried. "Oh no! Eden and me have to go back to our hotel room. Kelsey's in there!" Mackenzie panics. Brooke hugs her friend. "Don't worry! You guys can borrow some of my dance wear!" Abby offers. "And mine!" Addie says. "Me too!" Brooke say. "Me three!" Gabbi says. Since all the girls are roughly the same size, they share dance wear all the time.

Abby, Addie, Brooke, and Gabbi take their dance wear out of their bags and pile it onto one of the beds.

"I have an idea!" Gabbi announces. "What?" Brooke asks. "Let's pick out dance wear for each other!" Gabbi says. The girls nod and agree to the idea. "Okay...Kenzie and Eden will choose for each other, Brooke and Abby will choose for each other, And me and Addie will choose for each other. How's that sound?" Gabbi says. The girls begin picking out dance wear for each other. When everyone finishes picking out dance wear, they present their outfits.

For Mackenzie, Eden chooses a leopard print bra top and matching shorts.

For Eden, Mackenzie chooses a bra top with a flowery pattern and a pair of white dance shorts.

For Brooke, Abby chooses a white bra top with butterflies on it and hot pink trim around it. She chooses a pair of pink dance shorts too.

For Abby, Brooke chooses the same butterfly top, but instead of pink trim, her top has green trim. She also chooses a green pair of shorts to go along with the top.

For Gabbi, Addie chooses a purple bra top with braided straps and a pair of pink, purple, and black shorts.

For Addie, Gabbi chooses a blue and white tie dyed sports bra and white shorts.

The girls get dressed and go to the bathroom to do their hair and brush their teeth.

"Come on, Eden and Mackenzie! We have to go back to our room and get dressed," Trina says, once she finishes talking with Cat, Tori, and Jade. The girls come out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for dance. "You're already dressed!" Tori exclaims. The girls smiles and explain how they're sharing their dance wear. "Well, we still need to get your shoes from our room," Trina says. The girls frown. "Darn! I forgot about our dance shoes!" Eden mutters under her breath.

The moms get ready, while the girls go get Eden and Mackenzie's shoes. Tori had given them her room key, so they can stop by the room and pick them up. Eden slides the key into the door, then pulls it out. A green light flashes and the girls hear the door unlock. The girls help Eden open the heavy door. Eden runs into the room, and grabs the dance shoes, without being noticed by Kelsey or her mother. She hands Mackenzie her shoes and the girls go back to their parents.

As the girls and their mothers head down to the ballroom to practice their routines, they run into someone they know.

"Callie!" the girls exclaim, running towards a girl and her mother.

The girl looks up and smiles. She runs towards the girls. "Guys!" she exclaims happily. They girls hug each other.

Callie, who is 5 ½ -years-old, used to dance and compete at with the girls, but she switched studios several months ago. The girls had lost contact and haven't seen Callie in months. "I've missed you guys so much!" Callie exclaims. She and the girls excitedly chatter for a bit, while their mothers exchange contact information. After they finish exchanging info, the girls say goodbye and continue on their ways.

* * *

The girls meet Ms. Jules in the ball room to practice their dances. "Ms. Jules! You'll never guess who we saw!" Abby exclaims. Ms. Jules chuckles. "Who did you see?" she asks. "Callie!" the girls answer at the same time. Ms. Jules thinks about her former student and smiles fondly. She always liked Callie and she was very sad to see her leave the studio. "How's she doing?" she asks.

"Good!" Eden replies.

"She and her studio are gonna compete against us in the competition tomorrow!" Mackenzie says excitedly.

"I hope she does well!" Gabbi says.

"Yeah! She's a really good dancer!" Abby chimes in.

Ms. Jules smiles again. "Well, you girls are good dancers too!" she says.

Kelsey scoffs and flips her hair. "You guys are so stupid!" she exclaims.

The girls and Ms. Jules turn around and face Kelsey. "You dumb-dumbs aren't supposed to root for the enemies! You're supposed to crush your enemies! And besides, Callie is a terrible dancer!" Kelsey says snidely. She flips her hair back.

Ms. Jules looks at Kelsey sternly. "Kelsey, you're breaking two of my most important rules. One, your hair isn't up. It needs to be up in a ponytail or bun. And two, you're putting other dancers down. Whether a dancer comes from our studio or not, you are to never say anything mean about them. Not even behind their back," she said strictly.

Kelsey rolls her eyes. "Whatever," she mutters. She walks to the middle of the room and starts stretching. "Ahem!" Ms. Jules clears her throat loudly. Kelsey turns her head towards her dance teacher. "What!?" she snaps. "Your hair is still down. Please put it up, before you start dancing," Ms. Jules says. Frustrated, Kelsey throws her hands in the air. "I'm not even dancing! I'm warming up!" she snaps.

Ms. Jules puts her hands on her hips. _"Kelsey…"_ she says sternly. Kelsey gets up and stomps over to Ms. Jules and the girls. Before Ms. Jules can say anything, someone peeks their head through the door and asks to speak with her. "I'll be right back, girls. Stay here and begin warming up. Kelsey, your hair needs to be up by the time I come back," she says, leaving the room.

"Which one of you numb-nuts has a hair tie?" Kelsey asks. Usually, the girls have a few hair ties on their wrists or in their dance bags, but today they left their bags in their hotel rooms. Kelsey points to Gabbi, who has her hair up in two French braided pigtails. "Hey, you! Barbecue Hand! Give me one of your hair ties!" she barks. Gabbi looks at her hand. It's still a little bit red from last night, but nothing else about it looks deformed. Kelsey picks on Gabbi the most, because she thinks that Gabbi "stole" her solo. Ms. Jules had them compete for the Castle on a Cloud solo. Since Gabbi got the solo instead of her, Kelsey makes sure to be extra cruel to her. "I don't have an extra rubber band," Gabbi says. Kelsey rolls her eyes. "Yes, you do, Stupid!" she says, gesturing to Gabbi's pigtails. Gabbi feels her pigtails. "I'm using these," she says. Kelsey makes her way towards Gabbi. "You aren't anymore!" she says. She grab's Gabbi's pigtails and slides the hair ties off. The other girls gasp and try to help, but Kelsey shoves them out of her way. Kelsey puts one around her wrist and uses the other one to pull her hair into a low ponytail.

"You crybabies better not tell Ms. Jules or your mommies! If you do, I'll beat you up and push you off the stage during the competition!" Kelsey menacingly threatens. Ms. Jules comes back into the room, before any of the girls can say anything.

"Excellent! Your hair is up now, Kelsey!" Ms. Jules says, before noticing that Gabbi's braids are coming undone. She raises an eyebrow and looks at Gabbi. "Gabrielle, why is your hair down now?" she questions. Kelsey, who is standing behind Ms. Jules, grins and mimes that she's pushing someone off a stage. Gabbi quickly looks away from Kelsey and looks down at her feet.

Ms. Jules taps her foot impatiently. "I…umm…let Kelsey…umm…borrow my…umm… hair ties," Gabbi says quietly. "Why did you give her both?" Ms. Jules asks. Gabbi timidly shrugs. "Umm…I don't know," she says in an even quieter voice. Kelsey jumps in front of Gabbi, pushing her aside. "She's so silly! I just needed one hair tie, but she gave me both of her hair ties! She's so nice! I guess she'll do anything for her _best friend!_" she says in an extremely sweet, but fake voice. She turns towards Gabbi and hands her a hair ties. "Here, _bestie!_" she says. She wraps her arms around Gabbi's tiny body and squeezes her tightly. "We're best friends now and best friends don't tell on each other!" she whispers threateningly into Gabbi's ear. Gabbi quickly nods, as she struggles to breathe. Kelsey lets go of her and she gasps for air, coughing.

Gabbi quickly ties her hair up into a messy bun. She and the other girls begin to stretch. She keeps an eye on Kelsey and tries to get as far away from the girl as possible. Kelsey makes it impossible, because she follows Gabbi everywhere.

After warming up, the girls practice the group dance. They practice the group dance twice, then work on their solos. Once the girls run their routines a few times, Ms. Jules dismisses them.

* * *

Tori, Cat, Jade, and Trina pick their daughters up and take them to lunch. They dine at one of the hotel's restaurants. After lunch, the girls go back to Cat and Jade's room to rest. There is no way Eden and Mackenzie are staying in a room with Kelsey for an extended period of time. The girls nap on the beds. Gabbi, Abby, and Brooke sleep on one bed, while Eden, Mackenzie, and Addie sleep on the other.

Once the girls are asleep, the mothers quietly discuss their thoughts about Kelsey.

"There's something wonky about that kid," Trina says. They discuss the hot water incident and the alleged bed wetting incident. "Why would she put Gabbi's hand in hot water?" Cat asks. The mothers think. Then Jade figures out what Kelsey's motive was. "The warm water prank!" she announces. The other moms look at her. "What?" Tori asks. "There's this really mean prank where you put someone's hand in warm water while they're asleep and it's supposed to make them pee," Jade explains. Tori furrows her eyebrows. "Wait...how do you know about the prank," she asks suspiciously. Cat gasps. "Did you ever play the warm water prank on someone!?" she asks. Jade smirks. "Maybe," she says nonchalantly.

* * *

At around 3:30 pm. The girls wake up from their naps. They still have a few hours to relax until they're supposed to rehearse their dances again.

The girls check their Slap pages. Gabbi and Addie have been tagged in videos on Kelsey's Slap page. "Guys! Look! Kelsey tagged me in a video," Gabbi exclaims worriedly. "Me too!" Addie say. Brooke looks at her notifications. "She tagged me in a photo," she says. She holds up her phone and shows her friends. "You looks really scared in that picture," Eden comments. Brooke tells her friends about how Kelsey forced her to be in the picture.

Gabbi plays the video Kelsey tagged her in. She and her friend watch it intently.

In the video that Gabbi is tagged in, Kelsey holds a steaming cup of water in front of the camera, fogging up the lens. She quickly wipes the lens of and starts speaking. "I'm gonna make Gabbi Oliver-West pee her pants. I read online that if you put someone's hand in warm water when they're sleeping, it makes them pee," she tells the camera. Even though it was dark when Kelsey was filming, the girls could see everything clearly, because she used a night vision filter. She submerges Gabbi's hand into the hit water and hides.

"I knew it was her!" Gabbi exclaims. "Addie, play your video now," Eden says. Addie presses play and sets her phone down so everyone can see.

In the video, Kelsey is holding a cup of water. "I'm gonna make everybody think that Addison Valentine-Shapiro peed in her pants," she says, snickering. She dumps the water on Addie, then hides. Once again, she uses a night vision filter so everything is visible.

"Maybe we should show these videos to our moms…" Eden suggests.

The other girls look at her. "NO!" they all shout.

"If she knows that we showed these to our moms, she'll delete them. Then she'll beat us up and push us off the stage at the competition," Abby says worriedly.

"Maybe we can show them after the competition…that way she'll only be able to beat us up. Ya know? Since we won't be on a stage if she finds out…" Gabbi suggests.

The girls discuss what to do, while their moms discuss Kelsey until it's time to go back to the ballroom and practice.

Gabbi grabs an entire pack of hair ties before heading out the door. Jade notices this and stops her. "Whoa, kiddo! You don't need that many hair ties. Just take one or two," she says to Gabbi. Gabbi shakes her head. "Yes, I do! I need all off them! Every single one of them!" she says. Not wanting to argue, Jade sighs and lets Gabbi take the pack of hair ties with her.


	8. The Competition: Part 4

**The Competition: Don't Poke the Bear**

Terrified, the girls are walking on eggshells around Kelsey. Jade goes against her daughter's wishes to keep everyone safe.

* * *

After their moms drops them off, the girl anxiously stretch and wait for Kelsey to arrive. When her mother drops her off, Gabbi rushes up to Kelsey. "Here! These are for you!" she blurts out, shoving the pack of hair ties into Kelsey's hands. Kelsey pats Gabbi's head as if she were petting a dog. "Good girl…maybe you aren't as dumb as your little friends are," she says in a demeaning tone. She puts the hair ties by the door, so she'll remember to bring them with her.

The girl finish warming up and instead of practicing the group dance first, they work on their solos. Kelsey tries to make the girls mess up by singing along to their music very loudly and off-key. However, Ms. Jules quickly makes her stop singing.

Ms. Jules had asked the girls to bring their solo costumes to rehearsal. She asks them to put their costumes on, so they can do a dress rehearsal.

Each girl performs their solo twice. Then, Ms. Jules has them put on their costumes for the group dance.

Their group costumes are yellow and sparkly at the top with light purple trim. There is a light purple band around the middle and the bottom is a pink skirt with multicoloured polka dots on it. There are two bows that match the skirt on is at the top left strap and the other is supposed to be worn in the girls' hair.

The girls change out of their costumes after rehearsal. Ms. Jules carries the group costumes and each girl carries her solo costume. They leave the ballroom and Ms. Jules takes them back to their hotel rooms.

* * *

While Cat, Jade, Trina, and Tori do some minor, last minute alterations on their children's costumes after dinner, Ms. Jules takes the kids to the pool.

"Ms. Jules! Watch this!" Abby exclaims. Ms. Jules watches Abby cannonball into the pool. She smiles and claps when Abby climbs out of the pool. She high fives the small girl and continues watching her students swim and splash around with each other.

"Let's play a game!" Kelsey says. The girls look at each other. "We're already playing Mermaids," Addie says. Kelsey glares at the girls. "And now we're gonna play a different game," she barks. Too scared to object, the girls listen as Kelsey explains her game.

"The game is called 'Pony,'" Kelsey says. "Me and my _best friend,_ Gabbi will demonstrate." Kelsey brings Gabbi, who happens to be the smallest person of the group, away from her friends and makes her stand a few feet in front of everyone. "Gabbi is my pony," she announces. She roughly jumps onto Gabbi's back and uses her hair as "reins." The weight of Kelsey forces Gabbi's head under water. Gabbi struggles to bring her head to the surface. Kelsey yanks her hair and jerks her head in different directions, forcing water into Gabbi's nose. Gabbi swallows a mouthful of water. Kelsey still holds her underwater. The girls try to pull Kelsey off of Gabbi.

Ms. Jules, who was watching from a lounge chair, jumps into the pool. She pulls Kelsey off of Gabbi. Gabbi surfaces, gasping for air and flailing around. Her head hurts from getting water up her nose and she chokes and coughs up pool water. Ms. Jules takes her out of the pool and wraps the small child in a towel. She gives Kelsey an angry look. "I think we've had enough pool time for today," she says, carrying Gabbi. Each girl picks up their towels and follows Ms. Jules back to their hotel rooms.

* * *

Cat, Jade, Tori, and Trina have finished altering the costumes, so they're watching television together. Jade hears a knock at the door and gets up to answer it. She sees all of the girl's—minus Kelsey–terrorized faces. Ms. Jules hands Gabbi to Jade and she explains the pool incident. Jade tries to focus on Ms. Jules, but rage is boiling up inside of her. "Thank you for notifying me about the incident. The girls' mothers are in the room with me. The girls can stay in here for now," Jade says, trying her best to sound neutral. Ms. Jules peeks into the room and sees Cat, Tori, and Trina watching television on the couch. She allows the girls to go into the room, then leaves to bring Kelsey to her mother, so they can discuss the pool incident.

Jade carries Gabbi into the bathroom, so she can clean her up. She tells everyone that she's giving Gabbi and bath and shuts the door. "Gabbi, what did she do to you?" she asks. She begins running water for a bath. She puts her hand under the running water to check the temperature. Gabbi stares at the ground. "I don't wanna talk about it," she says quietly. Jade sighs. "Honey, I need to know what _really_ happened at the pool today," she says softly.

"We were just playing and my head went underwater," Gabbi says.

_"__Gabrielle Elizabeth Oliver-West…"_ Jade says in a strict voice.

"Please don't use all four of my names!" Gabbi begs.

_"__Gabrielle…"_ Jade says sternly.

Gabbi sighs. "We were playing Mermaids when Kelsey came up to us. She said we should play a game, but Addie told her that we were already playing Mermaids. Then Kelsey gave us a mean looks and forced us to play with her. She told us that we we're going to play Pony with her. None of us knew how to play so she made me demonstrate how to play. She made me stand in front of everyone, then she jumped on my back. When she jumped on me, my head went into the water. I tried to come out of the water and breathe, but she held my head underwater and pulled on my hair. I got water up my nose and I swallowed some too! Everyone tried to pull Kelsey off of me, but she was too strong. Then Ms. Jules jumped into the pool and pulled her off of me," she explains.

Jade nods slowly, trying to process her daughter's story. "Has Kelsey ever attacked you before?" she asks. She turns off the faucet and added some bubbles to Gabbi's bath.

Gabbi nods. "During rehearsal today, she pulled my hair and stole my hair ties, because she forgot to put her hair up. That's why I need to bring all those hair ties. I gave them to her so she won't take mine again," she says.

Jade hugs her daughter tightly. "I won't let her hurt you, your sister, or any of your friends," she promises. She helps Gabbi remove her bathing suit and gently places her in the tub. She washes Gabbi's hair and quietly sings to her. Once she finishes giving Gabbi a bath, she takes her out of the tub and dries her off with a towel. She grabs a clean pair of pajamas from Gabbi's suitcase and dresses her daughter. She then combs out Gabbi's thick, dark hair, before letting her go back to her friends.

Jade cleans up the bathroom, before going back out to Cat and the kids. Cat tells her that Tori and Trina left, so their kids could bathe and change. Jade is surprised to see Brooke bathed and dressed in her pajamas. Cat explains that she bathed the rest of the kids in the hotel room's other bathroom. Jade thanks Cat for her help and the two mothers put their children to bed. Gabbi doesn't want her mother to leave her, so Jade lays with her until she falls asleep.

* * *

When she thinks Gabbi and the rest of the kids are asleep, Jade tries to get out of the bed. Unbeknownst to her, Gabbi is only half-asleep. As she begins getting out of bed, Gabbi's eyes open. "Where are you going, mommy?" she whispers. "Nowhere, Sweetie. Go back to sleep," Jade says. She was planning on confronting Kelsey's mother about the kids being bullied by Kelsey. Gabbi sits up and looks at her mother. "Are you gonna tell Kelsey's mom about the pool thing!?" she whispers frantically. "Umm, no," Jade lies. "I just need to...umm...pee." Gabbi gives Jade a suspicious look. Jade doesn't like lying to her family and friends. She sighs.

"Gabbi, Kelsey's mother needs to know about her daughter's behaviour. I need to tell her mom, so she can stop her daughter's cruel and violent bullying," Jade says, getting up. Gabbi gets out of bed and wraps her arms and legs around her mother's leg. Jade keeps walking with her daughter hanging onto her leg. "Mommy! Please don't tell her mom! She's gonna beat me up and push me off the stage when we dance!" Gabbi begs in a hushed voice.

Jade stops and picks her daughter up. She brings her back to the bed and places her down next to her sleeping sister. "Gabbi, I'm doing this for everyone's safety. This is not up for discussion. I'm giving you two choices. One: you can come with me while I speak to her mother or two: you can stay here," she says. Gabbi thinks about her options. "I'll go with you," she says finally. "Are you sure?" Jade asks. "Well, if Kelsey or her mom beats you up, you're gonna need someone to call 911," Gabbi responds. Jade gives her daughter a half smile and holds her hand. The two walk out quietly, so they don't wake anyone up.

Jade knocks on Kelsey and her mother's door. A very tall, muscular woman answers the door.

"Hi, you must be Kelsey's mother. My name is Jade Wes-" Jade begins. "I know who you are! What do you want?" the lady says, cutting Jade off. "Well...umm..." Jade starts, she doesn't know how to address this woman. She honestly doesn't even remember her name. "Nancy," the woman says gruffly. "Well, Nancy, your daughter has been bullying my daughters. In fact, she's been bullying her entire team," Jade says.

Nancy takes a step forward, towards Gabbi and Jade. She eyeballs them. "If this is about the pool incident, save your breath. That dance lady already told me about. Kelsey was just playing. It's not her fault that your kid doesn't know how to swim," she says. "Kelsey has bullied her teammates on previous occasions as well. She scares the kids into silence by threatening to harm and spread rumours about them," Jade says. "My Kelsey is a perfect little angel. She's never been punished, nor will she ever be. She's never done a single bad thing in her life. She's absolutely flawless," Nancy says.

"Open your eyes! She tripped Eden onstage during a duet, she whacked my other daughter, Brooke in the face with her prop, and she tried to drown Gabbi!" Jade exclaims. "Mistakes happen! And you're one to talk! You're the last person that should be giving parenting advice!" Nancy retorts. "Excuse me?" Jade questions, raising an eyebrow. "Oh don't act all sweet and innocent! Everyone knows about your teenage pregnancies!" Nancy says.

Her pregnancies with Nolan and Dylan are touchy subjects for Jade. She was bullied at school and belittled in public for being pregnant at a young age. There was name calling, mean pranks, and people trying to pressure her into getting an abortion. People's vicious words and the cruel names she was called were drilled into her mind. She kept hearing them slut shaming her over and over in her head. It affected her so much, that she actually drove to the abortion clinic. However, after sitting in her car in front of the clinic, she decided that she couldn't go through with it. Instead, she drove to Beck's RV and broke down. As a result of the bullying, Jade suffered from anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. Beck made her see a therapist and eventually Jade got a lot better about talking about her first two pregnancies, but some things can still trigger full blown panic attacks. Although, it was torturous, Jade happened to find one good thing about the bullying. She accredits it to making her more compassionate and kind to others. After her ordeal, she became nicer to people. She even became best friends with Tori and Trina.

A lump forms in Jade's throat. She hates it when people bring up her first two pregnancies. She loves all of her children very much, but she prefers to keep her private life (especially her pregnancies) private.

"Just because I had children when I was very young, doesn't mean that I'm a bad mother," Jade says, trying to remain calm. She regrets letting Gabbi come with her. Nancy snickers. Jade senses that whatever is about to come out of Nancy's mouth is something that she doesn't want her daughter to hear. "Gabbi, please go back to the room, here is the room key," she says, handing her room key to Gabbi. Gabbi obediently takes the key and goes back into the room.

"Why'd you make her leave? Didn't want your precious baby to hear about how terrible her mother is? You shouldn't even be considered a mother! You're not a mother! You're just _a slut_..._a whore_...you're just _a baby machine!_" Nancy says. Jade's heard it all before. She's been called dozens of names, so this isn't the first time someone's ever called her a slut or a whore. But still, it gets to her.

"Don't make this about me. This is about _your_ daughter bullying everyone on her team," Jade says. She tries to remain composed.

Nancy smirks and looks at Jade's stomach. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were pregnant _again,_" she says snidely, patting Jade's stomach. Jade pushing Nancy's hand away and takes a step back. "Of course you, _the one who didn't even know she was having twins,_ wouldn't know. I think there's a convenience store down the road where you can buy a pregnancy test. It's open 24/7...just like your legs!" Nancy retorts. Jade feels tears threatening to fall. "Look, just tell your kid to stop being such a bully, okay?" Jade says. She walks back to her room, next door and finds that Brooke had slid the key under the door for her. She picks up the key and goes back into the room, before Nancy even replies.

* * *

Jade places the room key on a night stand and goes into the bathroom. She locks the door and starts to cry softly. She feels like wuss for crying. She takes her phone out of her back pocket and notices that it was accidentally recording a video. She stops the video and calls Beck.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Beck."

"It's Jade."

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that when the caller i.d said 'incoming call from Jade.'"

"I'm sorry for calling you so late, I just really need someone to talk to right now."

"It's only like 11:30. Don't worry. What's up?"

"You know that Kelsey kid on the girl's dance team?"

"Umm...is she the tall, bossy one?"

"Yeah. Anyway, she's been bullying the kids, so I confronted her mother, Nancy about it."

"Alright..."

"Well...Nancy tore me a new one. She brought up my pregnancies with Nolan and Dylan..."

"Oh, Jade..."

"I'm fine, I didn't freak out or anything, but her words just really got to me. I know, it's stupid."

"It's not stupid. André, Robbie, and I are driving up to Vegas to see the kids perform tomorrow. We can take care of Nancy for you."

"Thanks, babe. I love you."

"No problem. I love you too. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now. See you tomorrow."

"See ya tomorrow."

"Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

Jade hangs up and takes a deep breath. She leaves the bathroom and plugs in her phone. Since Cat and her daughters are asleep in one of the beds, she crawls into the other bed, being careful not to wake up her kids. She watches them sleep peacefully and she reflects on what Nancy had said to her until falling asleep.

* * *

**To the people asking me to bring the dads into the story: Don't worry! They'll come into the story later. :)**


	9. The Competition: Part 5

**The Competition: Sabotage!**

The girls learn that some people will do whatever it takes to get ahead.

* * *

At 2 am, Tori awakes to the sound of someone banging on the door. She groans and slips out of bed. She opens the door and sees Ms. Jules frantically standing before her.

"Tori! They're ruined!" Ms. Jules exclaims.

Tori tilts her head to the side in confusion. "Huh?" she says.

Ms. Jules puts the box down and takes a costume out of it. The once adorable costumes are now torn and they have black stains on it.

Tori squints and takes a closer look at the costume. "What happened?" she asks.

Ms. Jules shrugs. "I don't know! But I need all the kids to get up so I can find new group costumes for them!" she tells Tori.

Tori puts her hand in front of her, like she's signalling someone to stop. "It's 2 in the morning! How are you gonna find seven new costumes at this hour?" she says.

"I'll figure something out! Just get everyone up and ready to go costume shopping," Ms. Jules instructs. Before Tori can react, Ms. Jules is already pounding on Cat, Jade, and their kid's door.

Tori stands in the doorway, confused. She quickly shuts the door and flicks the lights on. "Guys! You have to get up! Ms. Jules needs us to get dressed," she announces loudly. Eden and Mackenzie groan and shield their eyes from the light. Trina gets out of bed and yawn. Nancy and Kelsey remove their matching eye masks and angrily glare at Tori. "Tori, it's like 2 am! What could Ms. Jules possibly need!?" an annoyed Trina questions. Tori explains the costumes being ruined and starts getting her daughter up and dressed.

* * *

The mothers and the girls meet Ms. Jules in the lobby of the hotel at 2:30 am. The girls struggle to keep their eyes open as Ms. Jules explains their predicament. "All the stores are probably closed! How are we gonna find new costumes?" Cat asks. Jade shrugs. "It's Vegas, there's bound to be _something_ open," she says. The mothers use their PearPhones and try to find somewhere to get costumes at, while the kids sleep on the couches in the lobby.

Finally, Trina finds a store called Dance 24/7.

Ms. Jules calls three taxis and she splits everyone up. She rides in the first taxi with Kelsey and Nancy. Cat, Jade, Abby, Brooke, and Gabbi ride in the second cab, and Tori, Trina, Addie, Eden, and Mackenzie ride in the last cab. Within 20 minutes, all three cabs arrive at the shop.

* * *

The mothers and girls search for possible new costumes, while Ms. Jules asks if the store has the original costume in stock. Since the store doesn't carry the same costume, Ms. Jules joins the mothers and searches for a new costume.

Eden, Mackenzie, and Addie find sparkly bra tops in various colours. They call Ms. Jules over and show her their discoveries. Ms. Jules looks at the tops and calls the rest of the group over.

"Eden, Mackenzie, and Addison found these tops! Each of the girls will be a colour of the rainbow," Ms. Jules announces to the mothers and girls. She lists the girls' names and their colours.

Brooke: red

Kelsey: orange

Mackenzie: yellow

Abby: green

Addie: blue

Eden: purple

Gabbi: white

Ms. Jules hands each girl a top and asks them to go to the fitting rooms, so they can try it on.

When all of the girls come out of the fitting, Ms. Jules makes them line up in rainbow order.

"Did you all bring a pair of black dance shorts?" Ms. Jules asks.

"Yes," all of the girls say.

Ms. Jules always makes her students bring at least one pair of black shorts to competitions. She makes them bring black shorts in case there are any costume problems. She chose black, because it looks good with any colour.

The mother pay for the costumes and everyone takes a cab back to the hotel.

* * *

By the time everyone gets back to the hotel, it's 5:23 am. The competition is today. Ms. Jules lets the girls rest until 9:30 am. At 9:30, the girls will go back the ballroom and rehearse in their costumes. They'll rehearse for a few hours, rest, then head to the competition.

* * *

The girls arrive at the competition in their bus. Fans and paparazzi are gathered behind velvet ropes. Between the ropes, there is a walkway for the girls to enter the building. The girls hear their names being shouted from every direction. They look around, smile, and wave.

When they enter the building, the girls and Ms. Jules check in, while the mothers find the dressing room. The girls and Ms. Jules come back to the dressing room. Ms. Jules holds a schedule in her hand. "Alright! Solos will be performed first. Then duets and trios are next. And finally, groups of four or more are performing last," she announces. She looks at the schedule again.

"Gabrielle, your solo starts off the entire competition. Addison, you will perform right after Gabrielle. After Addison, Mackenzie is performing, then Abigail, then Brooklyn, then Kelsey, and finally, Eden will go last," Ms. Jules reads from her schedule. She tells each what their solo entry number is. The entry numbers are based on when each dancer performs. The group has an hour and a half before the actual competition begins.

Ms. Jules has her students warm up and run each of their routines once, before allowing them to change into their costumes. Once the girls run their solos, they start getting ready.

Jade swipes her finger through a container of brown face paint and smears across Gabbi's cheek. She blends the paint into her daughters face a bit, before applying more paint. After she finishes making Gabbi's face appear dirty, Jade washes her hands. She helps Gabbi change into her solo costume and styles her hair. She then help's Brooke put on her costume. Since Brooke isn't performing anytime soon, she doesn't do her makeup yet.

Gabbi shows Ms. Jules her costume, makeup, and hair. Her costume has champagne coloured sleeves and laces up in the front. The bottom is tattered and torn. Her dark hair is half up and it's messily tied with a grey ribbon.

The other mothers finish getting their children ready. When all of her students have their costumes on, Ms. Jules makes an announcement.

"Girls, do you remember when I left the room for a moment to talk to someone during rehearsal?" Ms. Jules asks. The girls nod. "Well, I was talking to a man who is creating a new reality television show. The show is going be to called Just Dance. They are considering featuring our studio on the show. The creator, Bryan Delmar wants to interview you girls to get a feel for your personalities and film your dances. I just need your mothers to sign these permission forms," she continues. She passes out the forms.

Everyone except Tori and Jade are excited by the news. The kids cheer and chatter happily, while their moms sign the permission forms. Tori and Jade exchange looks, remembering the time that they were featured on "The Wood." "Girls, nothing is real about reality TV," Tori says. The kids stop cheering. "What do you mean?" Addie asks. "Your Aunt Tori and I were going to be on a reality show called The Wood. The people who worked for The Wood edited what they filmed to make us look bad," Jade explains. "Also, being in the public eye is a lot to handle," Tori adds. The kids (minus Kelsey) are already very well-known due to their parents and their performing. "Please let me do it! I can handle it," Eden begs. Brooke and Gabbi look at Jade. "Please, mom!" Brooke pleads. Tori and Jade look at each other. They both sigh and sign the forms. They figured that the chance of the studio being featured was very low.

Ms. Jules reads a text on her PearPhone. "The creator and camera man are coming to interview the girls in five minutes," she says.

* * *

The mothers and kids line up in the hallway for their interviews. Ms. Jules has the girls practicing their dances at one end of the, while interviews take place at the other end. Halfway through the interviews, the kids' fathers show up. The mothers fill them in on what's happening. When Gabbi starts her interview, Kelsey walks up to Ms. Jules. "Ms. Jules, can I get my chapstick from the dressing room?" Kelsey asks. Ms. Jules gives her permission, but tells her not to disrupt the interviews. Kelsey skips to the dressing room.

In the dressing room, Kelsey heads straight to her bag. She takes out a plastic bag. Inside the bag, there is a stick of butter and a smaller bag containing a sponge. Kelsey takes out the sponge, which happens to be full of cooking oil, and squeezes the excess liquid out of it. She sets the sponge down on top of it bag. She grabs Gabbi's dance shoes and brings them to her bag. She wipes the oily sponge on the bottom of the shoes, covering it in slippery oil. She puts the sponge away and takes out the butter. She smears butter on the bottoms of Gabbi's shoes, so that they'll be extra slippery. She puts her stuff back and returns Gabbi's shoes to where she found them. She washes the oil and butter off of her hands and puts some of her chapstick on, before leaving the dressing room.

* * *

There are ten minutes left before the competition begins, so Ms. Jules takes Gabbi and Addie backstage. The rest of the girls and parents sit in the audience.

"Okay, girls! When the announcer says your name, number, and dance, go on stage. Remember: straight legs and pointed feet!" Ms. Jules tells her students backstage. Gabbi and Addie nods. They hug Ms. Jules, before she goes back to her seat in the audience. "Good luck!" Addie says to Gabbi. "You too!" Gabbi responds. They hug and watch the announcer speaking on the stage.

"Hello! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Showtime Dance Competition. At this competition, solos will be performed first. Next will be the duets and trios. And finally, group routines with four or more dancers will be performed last. To start us off, please welcome contestant number one, Gabbi with Castle on a Cloud!" the announcer says. He exits the stage and the lights go out in the audience and on stage. Gabbi enters the stage and gets into her starting position. The lights come up on the stage and her music starts to play.

_There is a castle on a cloud. I like to go there in my sleep._

Gabbi begins her dance. Her facial expressions convey sadness, but also hopefulness to the audience. She gracefully pirouettes on the stage. The stage is much more slippery than Gabbi had expected it to be. So, she pays extra attention to keeping her dancing graceful and balanced. She continues to dance beautifully. The audience watches silently.

Gabbi sashays across the stage and gets ready to do a front aerial. She does a small hurdle to get more momentum. She begins to her front aerial, but slips during the takeoff. This causes her aerial to be sloppy and unbalanced. She falls during her landing and her shoulder ends up in an awkward position, taking most of the impact.

The audience gasps. Everyone becomes silent again. An obnoxiously loud laugh erupts from someone.

Despite the numbness in her shoulder, Gabbi manages to get up and continue dancing without missing a beat. The audience applauds when she gets up and continues dancing. She holds back the urge to cry in pain and finishes her dance. The audience claps and when the lights go out on the stage again, she hurries backstage.

* * *

Beck and Jade meet Gabbi in front of the door that separates the hallway from backstage. Crying, Gabbi runs into her parents' arms. Beck scoops his daughter up into his arms. Gabbi wraps her tiny arms around Beck's neck and whimpers. "I'm sorry, mommy and daddy!" she cries. Jade strokes her daughter's hair. "Why are you sorry?" Beck asks. "Because, I fell and messed up my whole dance. And now you're embarrassed that I messed everything up!" Gabbi replies. "Oh, honey. We're not embarrassed at all! You did wonderfully. Even though you fell, you got back up and finished dancing. We are so proud of you!" Jade tells Gabbi.

Gabbi begins to cry more. The adrenaline that numbed the excruciating pain in her shoulder is wearing off. "My shoulder really hurts!" she whimpers. "Which shoulder?" Beck asks. "Beck, the shoulder she landed on is obviously the one that hurts!" Jade sarcastically retorts. Beck rolls his eyes. He knows that Jade gets snarky and sarcastic when she's worried about their children. "I meant does her left or right shoulder hurt," he says. "The right one hurts!" Gabbi says. Jade gently touches her daughter's right shoulder. "Ow! Mommy!" Gabbi screams, flinching. Jade apologizes and asks if she can move it. Gabbi nods and Jade asks more questions.

* * *

Gabbi sits on Beck's lap in the dressing room. Jade holds an icepack to her shoulder. Addie had just finished performing, so everyone is coming back to the dressing room. The mothers begin getting their kids ready for their upcoming dances. "Listen up! Mackenzie, Abigail, and Brooklyn are performing next! There are quite a few dancers that are performing ahead of them, so you all have time to do makeup and hair and run your solos again," Ms. Jules announces.

After her announcement, Ms. Jules checks on Gabbi. "Hey, kiddo. That was quite a fall," Ms. Jules says. Gabbi looks at her dance teacher. "I'm really sorry that I fell. And I'm sorry for embarrassing you by messing up my solo. You can kick me off the team if you want to," she says. Ms. Jules kneels down in front of Gabbi. "Sweetheart, you don't have to be sorry! I'm not embarrassed, nor am I kicking you off the team. You're one of my best students. Everyone makes mistakes," she tells her student. Gabbi smiles a little. "Really?" she says. Ms. Jules nods. "Really." She hugs Gabbi, before walking around to see the other girls' makeup and hair. Jade kisses Gabbi on the cheek and hands the icepack to Beck. She walks away to find Brooke, so she can do her makeup.

* * *

Once Mackenzie, Abby, and Brooke have their makeup and hair done, they run their solos with Ms. Jules and get critiqued, before going backstage. The rest of the team sits in the audience.

"Up next, we have contestant number twenty-eight! Please welcome Mackenzie with Funky Fresh!" the announcer says from offstage.

Mackenzie enters the stage. She does her upbeat hiphop routine, making sure to fix the things that Ms. Jules pointed out. She finishes with one hand on her hip and the other hand in the air. The audience claps and she exits the stage.

"Next up is contestant number twenty-nine, Abby with Dreamer!"

Abby enters the stage and waits for her music to start. When her song starts, she gracefully dances across the stage with fluid motions. She ends her routine laying on the ground, curled up as if she were asleep. The audience claps and she leaves the stage.

There is one routine before Brooke's, so she is still backstage.

"Please welcome contestant number thirty, Callie with I Dreamed a Dream!"

All of the girls, except Kelsey excited watch their good friend and former teammate perform. They clap and cheer when Callie finishes her dance.

"Next up is contestant number thirty-one, Brooke with Forget You!"

Brooke confidently steps onto the stage. Her music starts to play and she begins to do her tap solo.

Kelsey tells her mother that she is going to the bathroom and leaves the theatre. Instead of going to the bathroom, she goes into the dressing room. She takes out her oil sponge and stick of butter, which had melted a bit. She goes around the room, putting cooking oil and butter on the bottom of everyone's jazz shoes. She puts a very small amount of butter on her shoes, so she doesn't seem suspicious. She puts her supplies away in her bag and goes back to the theatre.

On her way back to the theatre, Kelsey sees her mother, Tori, and Eden coming her way. Although she fears that they know what she was up to, Kelsey remains calms and neutral. She finds out that they were just going back to the dressing room getting ready for her and Eden's solos.

* * *

After getting ready, Eden and Kelsey head backstage. Kelsey performs first. Her performance was mediocre at best. She fell out of numerous turn sequences, but her tricks were executed well. Eden is the last soloist to perform. She performs her solo very gracefully. When both girls finish performing, they meet the rest of their team in the dressing room. When Eden and Kelsey enter the dressing room, Ms. Jules congratulates them on their solos.

* * *

The girls relax for a while the duets and trios are performed. They watch Callie perform in her trio. After watching Callie's trio perform, the girls get ready for the group dance. Each girl changes into her costume and their moms do their makeup. Ms. Jules has the kids run the routine a few times. Since Gabbi's shoulder feels better, she practices with the group. Ms. Jules notices that the girls are slipping and falling as they practice, so she makes them take of their shoes and perform barefoot.

* * *

When everyone finishes getting ready and practicing, Ms. Jules takes the girls backstage. She tells them any last corrections and wishes them luck before heading to the audience. When the girls' routine is announced, they head onto the stage. Gabbi starts the dance when their music begins to play. She does a back handspring back tuck. When she returns to her starting position, the other girls start to dance. When they finish dancing, they get a standing ovation. They exit the stage and go back to the dressing room.


End file.
